Carry On
by prettypanda117
Summary: The life of a hunter requires great sacrifice. Melody Winchester must learn that lesson the hard way and it nearly consumes and breaks apart her and her small family. But...what happens when she meets a certain angel? Will he change her perspective? Give her a new purpose? Or will his presence just tear apart everything she holds dear?
1. Easy Tiger

**Hello everyone! Welcome to my newest story, well it's not really new I've been working on this story for a long time now and have finally worked up to courage to post it. This first chapter doesn't have a lot of action, just back story and character intros, you know the usual for a first chapter. This story is a sisfic and I haven't really seen a lot out there but there are some and there are a lot of very good ones out there. However i encourage you to give this one a try, why not maybe you'll like it? Ok I'll stop talking now but before i go you should know that i have several other stories posted already. Check em out if you'd like. Ok I'm done talking now :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own my character, Melody...**

* * *

_December 5, 2000_

_Well let's see…dear diary? No that sounds cheesy. How the hell are you supposed to start these damn things anyways? Hey diary…? Hello journal? What's up bro?_

_Whatever I'll just start…_

_Everything changed when my mother died. I know that sounds corny and cliché but, that's how it is. I was only two years old when it happened. All I remember is that I was too young to have my own room so I had to share with my brother Dean who was four at the time. There was this loud noise and a screaming or sort of screeching sound then dad came running in with Sam, thrust him into Dean's arms and told us to get out of the house. We ran out of the house and turned back to find it on fire. Dad barely made it out alive. _

_And ever since that night, things have never been the same. We never talk about mom. We only ever talk about how she died and who killed her. Yellow Eyes is what dad calls him. Dean and I talk about mom though. I don't remember a lot, just flashes. I do remember her hair. It was always so pretty, gold and yellow and butter all mixed in to make one pretty color. And whenever I smell roses I think of her for some reason. I told Dean about it once and he said that that was what her perfume smelled like. No wonder I like the smell so much huh?_

_Well tonight it's just me and Sam in the motel room. Being the middle child I usually get a say in whether I want to go out on a hunt or not. But dad and Dean are just hunting a few vamps, nothing too serious. And vamp hunts can get messy sometimes. Going back to the whole 'middle child' thing…it can be really sucky sometimes. I mean, I'm usually looked over. Dean is always dependable and dad always trusts him since he is the oldest. And Sam is just…rebellious and hardly ever agrees with dad so he is getting a lot of attention too. Me, well…I agree with dad sometimes. But I'm not as outspoken about my disagreement like Sammy. He'll get mad and call me out on it and then I'll get mad and tell him he was the mistake. But that usually makes him more mad…I've learned to keep it to myself mostly._

_Sam's on his damn laptop again, probably looking at _the_ college…Stanford. He got a full scholarship and everything, which is great…dad isn't too happy about it. There's always this tension now because Sammy just wants to go to college and dad wants him to stay in the "family business". Personally I think it would be really good for Sam to go. I mean, what Winchester has ever had the privilege of going to Stanford of all places and on a full ride?_

_Oh…they're back. Well I guess this is it for now…talk to you soon? Right?_

* * *

_January 26, 2001_

_It was Dean's birthday two days ago. He is now twenty-two years old. Dad let us have the night off so Sam and I took him to a bar. He got drunk of course. It was fun for him but for me it was a beating. Dean gets all emotional and grumpy. If I was allowed to drink then it would have been a bit more tolerable. Oh well…nineteen isn't too bad. And hey I'll be twenty in October-finally-and Dean can stop referring to me as a teenager, cause I most certainly am not. Sammy and I didn't have a lot of money so we both bought Dean some of his favorite nude magazines and I baked him an apple pie. Still pretty surprised that I managed that but he loved it of course. I swear Dean's love affair with pie is more precious to him then his gun collection sometimes. Sam's birthday isn't until May…we'll have to come up with something good for him…he deserves something special._

* * *

_May 13, 2001_

_Sammy left last night. It was horrible. He and Dad got into this huge argument and it woke me up. I didn't know what to do so I went into Dean's room and found him awake listening to everything. He let me sit on the bed with him while we heard the whole fight. I've never liked it when the family got into fights. The tension and yelling has always been too much for me. So I just sat with Dean, he had his arm around my shoulder too. I think he could tell that I wasn't enjoying listening to the fight. Dean was just angry though. He never really agreed with Sam on the whole college thing either. But he kept his mouth shut and sat with me all night which I appreciate. _

_Thank God for Dean that's all I can say. I don't know where I'd be without my big idiot brother. He's all tough on the outside but inside he's pure mush. And he falls for anything his baby sister can throw at him. Seriously all I have to do is give him this certain look and he lets me have anything that I'm asking for. _

_I'm sad Sam is gone. He calls me though, and promises to email and stuff. I just hope he keeps up with it. I miss my baby brother already…_

* * *

"Melody come on!"

"Wait! Shouldn't we knock or something?"

Dean looked back at his sister and gave her a look that said, "no are you stupid?". She laughed and rolled her eyes at him, yellow and caramel colored tresses falling across her shoulders. Her eyes shone in the moon light. They were a unique hazel. The color of dead grass…light browns with specks of green. With the two siblings standing next to each other the resemblance was obvious. They both had large eyes and full lips, only Melody's face was longer and thinner with high cheekbones and a small sloping nose.

"What would be the point of knocking?" he asked returning to picking the lock of the door he was facing.

Behind him he heard Melody scoff, "I don't know…politeness?"

"You really want to be polite to this guy?" Dean asked her as he swung open the door quietly.

"Well…" Melody sighed and followed after her brother into the house. They stepped in quietly and Dean made a beeline for the refrigerator. He started looking around the shelves for a beer but didn't see any and closed the door with a huff.

"Of course he doesn't have beer…ass," he growled and kicked the fridge causing a loud crash to echo throughout the kitchen.

Melody held up her hands, "Jesus Dean calm down. I'll buy you a pack later."

"Come on squirt, let's find out what he's been up to," Dean whispered harshly at her and started moving through the rest of the house.

Sighing Melody followed after him and ignored the nickname. She had been given the nickname 'squirt' as a kid because she was always shorter than her brothers. Even though she was now grown to a full five foot seven inches, Dean still gave her grief about it. Before moving on into the next room she stooped down and began to re-tie the knot on the laces of her worn, black low top converse. Before she could finish however, she heard what sounded like fighting going on in the next room over.

Running over she saw two shadowed figures blocking and dodging each other's hits. Staying in the shadows she watched the two battle it out, until eventually one got the upper hand on the other, flipping him around to land on the floor.

"Whoa easy tiger." Dean grinned down at his opponent.

Sam panted and stared up at his brother, "Dean?"

Coming into the room, Melody patted Dean on the shoulder, "Alright I think he's had enough."

"M-Mel?" Sam gasped up at her as well, "You guys scared the crap out of me."

Dean chuckled, "That's cause you're out of practice brother."

"Bit rusty there moose?" Melody teased him too.

Grimacing, Sam used his leg and flipped Dean over onto his back and reached out his hand grabbing hold of Melody's ankle causing her to fall over onto her back next to Dean. Looking up, she saw that Sam had one hand around both of his sibling's throats.

Dean laughed again, "Or not."

Melody couldn't help but chuckle softly, "Let go Sammy."

Giving them a small grin Sam got off Dean and helped his siblings stand. "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"Well," Dean began dusting off his sleeves, "I was looking for a beer."

Melody rolled her eyes, "I told him to knock first."

Sam's jaw clenched in the darkness of the room and he opened his mouth but stopped when the lights came on. All three siblings turned their heads when they heard a small, feminine voice, "Sam?"

"Jess…hey," Sam began, "Dean, Melody this is my girlfriend Jessica."

Jessica came further into the room, "Wait, your brother and sister? Melody and Dean?"

Melody smiled and gave her a small wave while Dean pointed at her shirt, "I love the smurfs—ooff—hey…" he rubbed his stomach where Melody had elbowed him telling him to shut up, but he didn't take the hint and walked up to Jessica,

"You know I gotta tell ya you…are completely out of my brother's league."

"Sorry Sammy," Melody said under her breath to her younger brother.

"Let me put something on," Jess said giving Dean a polite smile.

"No, no," Dean stopped her, "I wouldn't dream of it…seriously." Melody could only roll her eyes at Dean's back. He could be such an ass sometimes but she still loved the idiot. Jerking a thumb back in her and Sam's direction he continued, "Anyway we gotta borrow your boyfriend here, and talk about some private family business but, nice to meet you."

He came back to stand next to Melody and Sam. The youngest Winchester looked between his siblings and his girlfriend and took a breath. "No,"

Melody snapped her head in his direction and raised a brow at him, "No?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded and walked over to Jess, putting an arm around her he continued, "Whatever you two have to say, you can say in front of her."

Dean and Melody watched their brother then gave each other a sort of look that said 'sure why not'. "Okay," Dean began, "Um…dad hasn't been home in a few days."

"So he's working overtime on a 'miller time' shift. He'll stumble back in sooner or later." Sam clipped at them with a hand in his pocket and an arm still around his girl.

Dean bowed his head and Melody decided to take over for him. With a hand on Dean's shoulder she said carefully, "Sam…dad's on a hunting trip…and…"

"And he hasn't been home in a few days," Dean finished for her, knowing it was a little difficult for her to say.

A look of realization and slight fear crossed Sam's face as he slowly said, "Jess, excuse us."

* * *

Dean led Melody and Sam down the stairs all while Sam kept up his tirade of complaints to his siblings. "I mean, come on. You can't just break in in the middle of the night and expect me to hit the road with you two."

"Hey in my defense I wanted to knock but no, someone wanted to be all…Dean about it," Melody said pointing at her oldest brother's back.

"Mel stuff it," Dean said to her over his shoulder and then glanced back up at Sam, "You're just not hearing us Sammy. Dad's missing. And we need your help to find him."

With a roll of his eyes Sam continued down the stairs, "You remember the poltergeist in Amherst, or the devil's gates in Clifton? He was missing then too. He's always missing and he's always fine."

Stopping at the bottom of the steps Dean looked up at his brother, "Not for this long, now you gonna help us or not?"

"I'm not." Sam deadpanned.

Joining Dean, Melody stared up at her youngest brother, "Sam, why not?"

"I swore I was done with hunting for good," he defended.

"Come on," Dean sighed, "It wasn't easy but it wasn't that bad."

He walked off and Sam felt his jaw clench. Melody looked up at him with a slightly sympathetic but hardened look, "It won't be hunting Sammy, it'll be a search for dad."

Sam paused but shook his head and the two followed after Dean. Sam looked down at Melody, "Do you remember what dad did when I said I was scared of the thing in my closet?" he didn't give her enough time to answer, "He gave me a .45."

"Well what was he supposed to do?" Dean asked with his hands in his pockets as he stood by the exit.

Melody moved to stand next to Dean as Sam answered, "I was nine years old. He was supposed to say 'don't be afraid of the dark'."

"Really? 'don't be afraid of the dark'? Of course you should be afraid of the dark; you know what's out there." Dean said slightly frustrated.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Yeah I know but still. The way we grew up after mom was killed and dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her, but we still haven't found the damn thing. So we kill everything we can find."

Melody chewed her bottom lip, "We save a lot of people doing it Sammy."

Sam scoffed at both of his siblings attitudes. "You really think mom would have wanted this for us?"

That seemed to hit a nerve. Dean turned and slammed open the gate that would lead them out into the parking lot. Melody paused for a moment and looked up at her little brother. She slowly shook her head and followed after Dean with Sam close behind.

As they caught up with Dean, Sam continued, "Come on. The weapon training and melting the silver into bullets? Guys, we were raised like warriors."

"So what are you gonna do?" Dean asked his brother, "You just gonna live some normal, apple-pie life? Is that it?"

They all stopped at the trunk of Dean's 'baby'. A black 1967 Chevrolet Impala. It was like their home. Melody felt a wave of fondness come over her as she glanced at the car. A lot of important things happened with that car, a lot of memories were stuffed in between the seats.

Sam's voice brought her back to reality, "No. Safe."

She couldn't fight the eye roll at his words but held her tongue. After all she was the one who encouraged him to go to college…not the way he left though. She did not want it to turn into what it has.

"That's why you ran away then?" Dean asked, though it sounded more like a statement to Melody.

"I was just going to college," Sam said carefully, "It was dad who said if I was gonna go, I should stay gone. And that's what I'm doing."

Melody had heard enough, "Sam who cares what dad said _four years ago_. The reality is that he is in trouble right now-if he's not already dead," she pointed at herself then at Dean, "Trust us, we can feel it. Something isn't right."

There was a moment where all three Winchesters watched each other, waiting for what the next one might say. Dean was the first to break the ice, "Look, we can't do this by ourselves."

"Yes you can," Sam said, like it was an obvious fact.

"Sammy," Melody said gently, "We don't want to do this without you."

That seemed to get him to think more. Sam took in a deep breath after flicking his eyes between brother and sister for a minute, "What was he hunting?"

Giving him a small triumphant smile Dean turned and popped open the trunk of his car. Pulling up the false cover and propping up the top he dug through the collection of weapons, "All right, where the hell did I put that thing?"

Melody leaned down and started helping her brother search as Sam watched his siblings, "So, when dad left why didn't either of you go with him?"

"We were working our own gig Sammy."

Nodding Melody glanced up at Sam, "Yeah it was this uh…voodoo thing down in New Orleans."

"Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourselves?" Sam asked squinting at them.

Pausing in his movements Dean gave same a look and said, "Dude, twenty-four," he said pointing at Melody and then pointed at himself, "Twenty-six."

"Ah-ha, found it." Melody said triumphantly pulling out a small file of papers.

Dean took the papers from her and began explaining their story to Sam, "So dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho, California. About a month ago this guy," he pulled the first sheet of paper from his hands and gave it over to Sam, "they found his car but he'd vanished. Completely M.I.A."

Sam stared at the paper for a while then looked up at his brother, "So maybe he was kidnapped."

Melody took the papers from Dean and began laying them down one by one, "Sure but here's another one is April, another in December '04, '03, '98, '92…ten of them over the past twenty years each of the victims have been men and all were on the same five-mile stretch of road."

She took the papers and placed them neatly back into their rightful spot as Dean continued, "It started happening more and more, so dad went to go dig around. That was about three weeks ago."

"We haven't heard a word from him since he left which is in itself bad enough," Melody sighed crossing her arms over her chest.

"That was until I got this voicemail yesterday," Dean reached over and pulled out a recorder. Flipping it around in his hand he pressed the play button and held it out for everyone to hear. All three siblings could hear a distorted voice behind static; it obviously belonged to their father.

_"Dean, something is starting to happen. I think it's serious. I need to try to figure out what's going on. Watch out for Mel-"_ there was a mess of static until finally his voice came through again, _"Be very careful Dean. We're all in danger."_

Switching off the recording Dean felt his sister tense up. She was the one who had heard the voicemail first. She was extremely worried for their father. Over the past four years, their dad had had a sort of wake up call. He started acting more like an actual father to them instead of just a boss. Melody had grown particularly close and had worked out a lot of her issues with him. They were slowly on the mend with each other when he disappeared.

"You know there's EVP on that?" Sam pointed out.

"Not bad Sammy," Dean gave his brother a praising smile, "Kind of like riding a bike isn't it?"

Sam nodded slowly at him and glanced at his sister who gently patted Dean's hand that was holding the recording device they had moved the voicemail onto. "Show him the uh…the slowed down bit."

"Right, well we slowed down the message and ran it through a GoldWave, took out the hiss and this is what we got."

Dean pressed play and they all listened as they heard a small, female voice whispering through the speakers, _"I can never go home."_

"Never go home," Sam repeated.

Satisfied, Dean shut off the recorder and threw it into the trunk closing the lid with a solid thump. Melody leaned up against the trunk of the car next to Dean as he began speaking to Sam, choosing his words carefully, "You know in almost two years I've never bothered you, never asked you for a thing. Same for Mel."

Looking down at his sister Sam felt a small wave of regret come over him. He knew she had tried to contact him several times in the past two years. Sam just couldn't bring himself to talk to her…too many bad memories.

"All right," he sighed, "I'll go. I'll help you find him. But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just…wait here."

"What's first thing Monday?" Dean asked.

"I have an interview."

"What, a job interview? Skip it." Dean shrugged.

Melody scoffed and elbowed Dean in the side, "That's great Sammy. What are you interviewing for?"

"It's a law school interview. And it's my whole future on a plate." Sam explained to his siblings slowly.

"Law school?" Both Melody and Dean questioned.

Sam looked at Melody and then locked his eyes with Dean. He knew that if he was making a deal like this, he needed to be sure that Dean was the one who understood the rules, "So we got a deal or not?"

* * *

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	2. You alright brother-bear?

**Well i think this is the fastest I've ever posted a new chapter lol This one has a bit more action, lots more siblingfeels and daddyfeels :) Ok not much else to say here, check out my other stories, "She Falls Into Darkness" and "The Girl in 221A" Alrighty enjoy the read!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

"So this is where Constance took the swan dive?" Dean said looking over the bridge down into the churning waters.

Melody looked over the side of the bridge with him and grimaced. After arriving in Jericho, California they had done some digging on the case their father was working on before he disappeared. Dean and Sam pretended to be a pair of federal marshals while Melody posed as a reporter. Trying to find out anything that would lead to what had happened to her dad she had stuck to the town, asking anyone for any information. She had run into a friend of the latest victim, and after convincing her that yes, she was a real reporter, the girl had told Melody about a local myth regarding a woman who had killed herself after finding her children dead.

The siblings met up and had paid a visit to the library and after some more research-courtesy of Sam-they had found out about a woman who had committed suicide on Sylvania Bridge on Centennial Highway. She had jumped to her death and drowned in the river after finding her own children had drowned in their bathtub.

Sam joined his siblings and leaned against the railing, "So you think dad would have been here?"

"He is chasing the same story," Melody tucked a stray piece of caramel hair behind her ear, "And we're chasing him."

Dean gave her a light pat on the shoulder and began pacing away from the side of the bridge. Sam and Melody followed him as the youngest Winchester asked, "Okay, so now what?"

"Now we keep digging until we find him," Dean said matter of factly, "It might take a while."

Melody stood next to Sam as their oldest brother came to a stop. "Dean," Sam said to his back, "I told you I've got to get back by—"

"Monday," Dean finished for him looking back, "Right the interview. I forgot."

Closing up her leather bomber jacket Melody looked up at Sam, "You really want this don't you?"

Sam went to confirm what she already knew but both stopped when they heard Dean's slightly frustrated voice, "You think you're just gonna become some lawyer, marry your girl?"

"Maybe, why not?" Sam shrugged his shoulders, arms hanging loosely at his sides.

"Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you've done?"

Melody held out her hands toward the ground, "Dean come on, lay off him."

"No," Sam gently placed a hand on Melody's shoulder stopping her as he took a few steps towards Dean, "And she's not ever going to know."

"Well, that's healthy," Dean clipped at him sarcastically, "You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but you're gonna have to face up to who you really are."

"Dean seriously," Melody called after him as he turned to walk further up the bridge. Sam followed his brother,

"And who is that?"

"One of us," Dean said throwing his arms out at his sides.

Melody let out a frustrated huff and broke out into a slight jog to catch up with her brothers. She always felt like she was the one caught in between her brothers in every argument. She wanted Sam to have a happy, normal life. If she couldn't have one and if Dean couldn't…why not Sam?

"No, I'm not like you," Sam followed Dean closely, his walking turning into an irritated march, "This is not going to be my life."

Sam walked around and stopped in front of Dean making him halt in his own steps. Melody caught up and stood in between her brothers, arms at her sides ready to stop either of them from doing anything stupid.

"Well, you have a responsibility—"

"To dad and his crusade?" Sam cut off Dean with a wave of his arms, "If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what mom looks like. What difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, mom's gone, and she isn't coming back."

There was a pause and Melody relaxed, thinking that Dean was able to find it in himself to reign in his temper. However she was wrong and before she could blink, Dean had Sam by the collar of his jacket and threw him up against the side of the bridge, pressing his back into a support beam.

"Woah! Dean!" Melody cried out in surprise. She ran up and put one hand on each of her brother's shoulders, pushing on Dean slightly.

"Don't…talk about her like that," Dean growled out at his brother, all but ignoring Melody only giving her a cursory glance. With a huff he let go of Sam's jacket and walked a few steps away from his siblings.

With a slightly irate breath of air, Melody clenched her fists, "You two I swear! Sometimes it feels like I'm the oldest! I mean…Jesus do you two even—ugh! Can I punch you both, please?"

Sam sort of sunk away from her. He knew how much she hated it when the family would fight, especially her brothers. She had always been assigned the peace keeper of the family…and it obviously took its toll on her.

Melody huffed and didn't get an answer from either of her brothers. Letting out a frustrated groan she sent a solid punch into Sam's upper arm, "Ow! What the hell was—"

"Guys," Dean called to them. But it wasn't a 'stop fighting' call or even a 'calm down now' type of call. This was the type of call that Dean only ever used when he needed his siblings and he needed them now.

Sam and Melody followed where their brother was looking. What they saw should have made them run in fear or freeze in place. But instead, Sam and Mel walked up to stand next to their brother, flanking him on each side.

There was a woman standing on the railing of the bridge in a white dress. She looked back at the three Winchesters, dark eyes conveying pure regret and sadness. Then she slowly tipped herself over the edge and fell.

Springing into action, the siblings ran up to where they had last seen the girl and peered over the railing into the water. "Where'd she go?" Sam's voice seemed to tremble as he searched the waters for any sign of the girl.

"I don't know."

"I don't see her," Dean and Melody said over each other as they too searched the waters.

Shortly after they all heard the low, grumbling sound of an engine turning over. Melody immediately recognized it as the Impala. All three looked over at the parked car, its lights now turned on, blaring down at them.

"Who's driving your car?" Sam asked as he and his siblings stepped away from the railings and onto the street.

Dean reached in and pulled out his keys, holding them up for the others to see as they jingled and reflected the Impala's headlights.

"Um…" Melody began but stopped when she heard the tires screech and squeal as the car took off on its own. She felt Sam's hand on her shoulder as they all tensed up, confused as to what exactly was going on.

"Go Dean! Melody!" Sam called as all three realized the car was heading straight for them. They turned and ran, breaking out into full sprints with the car slowly gaining on them.

"Holy crap!" Melody screamed and pumped her legs harder. Dean glanced back at her and took her by the elbow, "Dean!" she called to him, "Guys we have to jump!"

"Jump?" Sam looked at her in slight confusion and horror when he realized what she was talking about.

"Yes! Jump!" Dean yelled at them as they all skidded to a stop and found a gap in between the railings of the bridge. Before she could second guess herself, Melody felt herself climbing over the railing and plunging down into the cold, dark waters.

Closing her eyes Melody braced for the icy waters but never felt them. Popping open one eye she found herself hanging over a bar with her hands over her head. Melody let out a small yelp of surprise when she felt a hand tighten its grip on her wrists. Looking up, she saw Sam hanging over a protruding bar by the stomach, one hand braced against it and the other gripping her tightly.

"Sammy! I friggin' love you!" Melody called up to him.

He grunted and started to lift her up, "Shut up," he grumbled as he pulled her up with one hand. When Melody felt the tips of her fingers touch the cold metal bar she called up to him,

"Almost got it!" Sam grunted a bit louder and when Melody could fully grab the metal bar she let out a triumphant, "Finally!"

Sam and Melody began pulling themselves up. Sam was eventually able to reach the more solid parts of the bridge and reached back, helping his sister as she carefully pulled herself toward him. Glancing down he saw a figure crawl up and plop down in the mud, "Dean!"

"What?" he barked up at him.

"You alright brother-bear?" Melody called down to him when she was sitting next to Sam.

Dean gave them the universal sign for "okay" and panted, "I'm super."

It was then that Melody realized he was literally covered from head to toe in mud. She let out a sigh of relief and leaned her head against Sam's shoulder who let out a short, breathy laugh. Melody felt him wrap an arm around her shoulders and she slowly joined him in his laughter.

Looking down at her oldest brother she realized how crazy they might look, sitting at the edge of a bridge, laughing at their brother who should probably be dead from the fall he took.

Eventually Dean made his way back to the bridge and quickly checked over the Impala. "Car alright?" Sam asked walking around to join his brother and sister at the trunk of their ride.

"Yeah," Dean said as he closed the trunk after double checking that nothing was missing, "Whatever she did to it, it seems all right now. That Constance chick—what a bitch!"

Melody couldn't help but giggle at her brother's temper…and the fact that he was covered in mud. Dean leaned up against the trunk next to her and gave her a look. Holding up her hands in defense she fought back another fit of giggles, "Sorry it's just that…well…yeah sorry."

"She doesn't want us digging around that's for sure." Sam commented leaning against the trunk as well. Dean let out a huffing sigh and crossed his arms while Melody looked over at him, a teasing glint in her sandy brown eyes,

"So where to now genius?"

"Mels…I will punch my sister if I have to," Dean threatened her but Melody could only laugh more at him. She eventually calmed down and all three siblings sat in a tense silence for a moment.

"You smell like a toilet," Sam broke the silence looking over at his brother with a scrunched nose.

Dean could only close his eyes and take in a few deep breaths, counting to ten as he did so. However as he finally felt his temper cool off he heard Melody giggle again…this was going to be a very long, very trying hunt…he just knew it.

* * *

"One room, please," Dean said calmly as he threw down a credit card onto the desk. The motel clerk stared at him for a while, taking in Dean's messy state and then wrinkled his nose as he got a whiff. Shaking his head the clerk picked up the card,

"You guys having a reunion or something?"

"What do you mean?" Sam questioned him.

"That other guy, Bert Aframian," Melody had to think back quickly. Then she remembered, 'Aframian' was the name of their latest credit card scam. It was the last one her and Dean had done with their father before he…went missing. The motel clerk continued, "He came in and bought out a room for the whole month."

Sam felt his sister tense up next to him and without thinking; he reached back and squeezed her forearm telling her that everything would be fine. Melody put her hand over his and felt her jaw clench as she held back showing any signs of fear or worry on her face. She was thankful that Sam was here, he was always more in tune with her emotionally then Dean ever had been. But that was probably because Sam was more open about his feelings then her older brother. The youngest Winchester wore his heart on his sleeve and so did Melody…both had always been each other's anchor when it came to heavily emotional times. And she needed Sam now more than ever.

Dean quickly booked a room and asked which room their relative had booked. "Room uh…10." The clerk told them and after thanking him and making a quick stop to their room to drop off their bags, all three siblings made their way to room 10.

Sam knelt down and began picking the lock while Melody and Dean kept a lookout. Ever so slowly, Sam opened up the door leading to room 10 and did a quick inventory. When he was sure it was clear he reached back and grabbed his brother and sister by the backs of their jackets, pulling them into the room and quickly shutting the door.

Melody and her brothers looked around the room. The walls were covered from floor to ceiling with clippings and various papers. On the bed lied an open suitcase, files and the sheets were all disheveled. The small desk by the far wall was spilling over with piled up books and papers and the back wall was covered by a map with pictures tacked onto certain spots.

"D…dad…?" Melody tried calling to him but they heard no answer. Dean moved over to turn on a lamp; next to it was an open paper with half of a burger sitting on top of the television. Picking up the food he gave it a quick sniff, gagged and put it back down.

"I don't think he's been here for a couple days at least," Dean reported to her holding out a hand and helping Melody step over the thick line of salt surrounding the entrance.

Sam kneeled down and picked up a small pinch of the line he had just stepped over, "Salt, cat's-eye shells. He was worried, trying to keep something from coming in."

Dean and Melody looked at the wall that was nearest to them. "What have you got here?" Sam asked them moving over to stand next to his sister.

Crossing her arms over her chest Melody spoke in a slightly trembling voice, "Centennial highway victims."

"You know, I don't get it," Dean began as he looked over the pictures and descriptions on the wall, "I mean, different men, different jobs, ages, ethnicities. There's always a connection right? What do these guys have in common?"

Melody glanced back and followed where Sam was looking. On the opposite wall were pages taken from various books. Each on different types of monsters and things that they had run into before. Moving her eyes over to the next wall she saw a piece of paper with the words, "Woman in White" scrawled across it.

Sam saw it as well and both walked up closer to see an article pinned underneath the words, recognizing it immediately. Melody flicked on the table lamp and felt herself smirk, "Dad figured it out," she said glancing back at Sam.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked from his spot.

"He found the same article we did," Sam explained to him, "Constance Welch. She's a woman in white."

Looking back at the wall of victims Dean couldn't help but grin, "You sly dogs," then he faced his brother and sister, "All right, so if we're dealing with a woman in white, dad would have found the corpse and destroyed it."

Running his eyes over the pages on the wall Sam shook his head, "She might have another weakness."

"No, dad would make sure. He'd dig her up," Dean moved to stand next to Melody, "Does it say where she's buried?"

Melody shrugged her shoulders, "Doesn't look like it. But if I was dad," she began walking a few steps away she turned on her heels and held up a finger, "I'd go ask her husband."

"If he's still alive," Sam added for her to which Melody only gave him a cursory nod.

"All right," Dean said moving over to the bathroom, "I'm gonna get cleaned up. You two see if you can find an address or something."

Before he could walk away though Sam stopped him, "Hey Dean, what I said earlier—about mom and dad—I'm sorry."

Dean stopped him from going any further by holding out a hand, "No chick-flick moments."

Sam scoffed and nodded slowly, "All right…jerk."

"Bitch," Dean grumbled as he walked into the bathroom.

Melody chuckled, "Morons," and walked up to Sam punching him in the arm softly. Sam laughed at her and threw an arm around her shoulders pulling her in for a side hug. He looked back up at the wall with the Welch article and then glanced at himself and his sister in the vanity mirror. They had the same chin; he noticed staring at the two of them next to each other.

Melody began to move forward and pulled Sam with her. Reaching out a hand she plucked a picture from the mirror. It was of their little family. All four were seated on the trunk of the Impala in winter gear. Dad had little baby Sam in his lap, Dean was sitting next to them and Melody was standing behind their father with her arms wrapped around his neck in an affectionate hug.

"I remember that day," she began handing him the photo, "It was the first time we saw real snow…Bobby took the picture for us."

"Was it a good day?" he asked handing her the picture.

Smiling fondly down at the photo she gingerly ran a finger over the surface of it, "One of the best."

* * *

About ten minutes later Dean stepped out of the bathroom to find Sam on his phone and Melody sprawled across the bed. "Hey guys, I'm starving," he said pulling on his favorite leather jacket, "I'm gonna grab a little something to eat at that diner down the street. You two want anything?"

Jumping up Melody grinned, "I want pie so I'm going. Sammy?"

"Uh, no," he said distractedly as he pressed his phone into his ear.

Dean shrugged and held open the door for his sister as they both walked out into the chilly afternoon air. Melody zipped up her favorite bomber jacket half way and shoved her hands into the pockets.

As they walked through the parking lot she looked up at her brother, "So do you think they have pecan pie? I'm really craving that right n—ah!"

She squealed in surprise when Dean quickly grabbed her arm and yanked her around to face the other way. Giving him a questioning stare he jerked his head backwards and looking over she saw a state trooper car and two officers walking towards them, "Oh you've _got_ to be kidding me," she mumbled as Dean pulled out his phone.

Pressing it to his ear he spoke quickly, "Dude, five-o. Take off…Uh they kinda spotted us. Go find dad."

Melody looked back at the officers and gave them her most welcoming smile as Dean hung up his phone and turned around, "Problem officers?" she asked innocently.

"Where's your partner?" the tallest of the officers asked Dean all but ignoring Melody.

"Partner? What—what partner?" Dean questioned them, shrugging his shoulders.

The officer looked back at his partner and jerked his thumb in the direction of the door they had come out of. Looking back at the siblings he crossed his arms, "So, fake U.S. Marshal, fake credit cards, fake press passes," he said looking pointedly at Melody who kept a straight face or tried to, "You two got anything that's real?"

"My boobs," Dean said grinning widely at the officer, "And…hers too." He jerked a thumb in Melody's direction who only crossed her arms over her chest,

"Hey…"

But before she could tell Dean to screw off…she found herself and her brother pressed up against the side of a squad car with cold metal hand cuffs clipping around their wrists. As the officers read them their rights Melody glared over at her brother, "I hate you," she mouthed as they were roughly thrown into the back seat.

* * *

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	3. Weak Spot

**I seriously cannot stop writing this story...**

**Disclaimer: I do now own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

"So, you two want to give us your real names?"

Melody straightened up in her chair as she watched the sheriff walk into their holding room carrying a box of files. Dean glanced at her and then shrugged, "I told you. It's Nugent, Ted Nugent."

Deciding to play along Melody grinned at the sheriff, "And I'm Pat Benatar."

The sheriff stood at the end of the table, hands resting on top of the box he had carried in, "I'm not sure you kids realize just how much trouble you're in here."

Melody sighed and rubbed her forehead. Dean clasped his hands on top of the table and fought a grin, "We talking like, misdemeanor kind of trouble or uh…'squeal like a pig' trouble?"

"You got the faces of ten missing persons taped to your wall, along with a whole lot of satanic mumbo jumbo. Boy you and your friend here are officially suspects."

"Yeah that makes sense," Dean began now fully grinning up at the sheriff, "Cause when the first one went missing in '82, I was three."

"And I was only one," Melody added holding up her pointer finger.

The sheriff wasn't buying it, "I know you've got partners. One of them is an older guy. Maybe he started the whole thing," he began rummaging through the box, "So tell me Dean…Melody…is this his?"

He threw down an old, worn leather bound journal. It was held shut by a leather strap and a small buckle on the front, pages could be seen sticking out of the sides messily. Slowly and carefully, Melody reached her hand out to take hold of Dean's underneath the table. The sight of that journal on the table rattled them both and Melody needed her big idiot brother right now before she totally fell to pieces.

That journal sitting there on that table told her one of two things. Either dad left it behind on purpose, or he…no Melody would not let herself think like that. Dean gave her hand a strong, comforting squeeze as the sheriff continued. He sat down on the table in front of them and reached out for the journal,

"I thought that might be your names," he flipped open the journal and began turning the pages, "See, I leafed through this, what little I could make out, I mean it's…nine kinds of crazy, but I found this too,"

He stopped on a page that had large, bold words. '**Dean, Melody. 35-111**'

"Now," the sheriff said giving them both a stern look, "You're staying right here till you tell me exactly what the hell that means."

* * *

"I don't know how many times I got to tell you," Dean insisted turning his hands upwards, "It's my high-school locker combo."

Melody chewed her bottom lip and kept her eyes cast downwards, staring hard at the open journal. "Are we gonna do this all night long?" the sheriff asked them. Melody could only shrug her shoulders at him.

"We just got a 911," A voice came from behind them. Looking back Melody saw one of the officers sticking his head through the doorway, "Shots fired over at Whiteford Road."

Turning his head back to face the siblings he asked, "Do either of you have to go to the bathroom?"

Melody shook her head while Dean said, "No."

"Good." He whipped out two pairs of hand cuffs clipping one around Melody's wrist and the other end to Dean's wrist. Using his second pair of hand cuffs, the sheriff then cuffed Dean's free wrist to the table effectively locking them to their spots. Giving them a half salute he exited the room, locking the door behind him.

Sighing Melody squeezed her eyes shut and leaned her head against Dean's shoulder, "I thought he'd never leave."

"You and me both sister," he commented glancing around until his eyes landed on their father's journal. Melody followed where he was looking and found a paper clip sticking out of the ends of the pages.

As Dean reached for the clip Melody felt a wicked grin crawl across her face, "Thanks pop."

* * *

"All right…go," Dean gently pushed Melody out of the door and she ducked down behind the nearest desk. Peering over the top she saw two officers standing in the rec room, everyone else had probably gone to the "911" call.

Looking back at Dean she held up two fingers and pointed them over the desk. Nodding Dean saw what she was talking about and knelt down, quickly making his way over to his sister. Once he was next to her he began searching for the exit and stuffed their father's journal into his jacket.

"Bathrooms," Melody whispered to him, "They have windows. I saw them on our way in."

"Good thinkin squirt," Dean glanced over the top of the desk; both officers were facing the opposite way talking and drinking coffee. He chewed his lip and turned back to face Melody, "Okay…now you—Mels?"

There was no sign of her. For a moment, Dean felt his heart drop when he realized he couldn't see her anywhere. "Dean!" he heard his sister's voice hiss at him from the other side of the room. Moving his eyes around to where her voice had come from Dean felt his shoulders slump with relief. She was kneeling at a desk that was only a few feet from the entrance to the bathroom.

"Come on, we don't have all night," she muttered checking that the officers weren't looking then quickly closing the distance to the bathroom. Dean huffed in annoyance and moved across the floor until he eventually found his way to the bathroom.

Quietly closing the door he turned around to find Melody standing on the edge of a sink, reaching her hands up to the window trying to force it open. "Damn thing is…_stuck_," she grimaced and sent an elbow into the edge of the window and it budged only an inch.

"Move, let me," Dean said holding out his hands so he could help her down.

Melody only waved her hand in his face, "No I can get it, just give me a minute."

"We don't have a minute Mels. One of those officers could come in here."

Scoffing Melody sent another elbow into the window, it moved a few more inches, "I may be a high school dropout, but I'm not an idiot."

"What are you talking about?"

Pausing in her movements Melody looked down at him, "We're in the women's bathroom genius."

Glancing around the dark room Dean closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, "I hate you sometimes."

"Love you…_too_," she elbowed the window one more time and felt it give way completely, "Yes!"

"Shh," Dean hissed at her, "Just hurry up before we have a real reason to get arrested."

Once they were outside both brother and sister made their way around the block quickly and found a payphone. After digging through their pockets for loose change Dean dialed his brother Sam and held up the phone to his ear.

"Fake 911 phone call, Sammy?" Dean felt a tiny sarcastic grin cross his features as Melody gripped his shoulder and tried to get her ear closer to the phone so she could hear Sam. Ignoring her Dean continued, "That's pretty illegal."

_"You're welcome," _His smile could be heard through the phone.

"Listen we got to talk…Mels," he groaned when she pulled down the phone to her ear causing Dean to bend over slightly so he could still hear his brother.

_"Tell me about it," _Sam commented, _"So the husband was unfaithful. We are dealing with a woman in white. And she's buried behind her old house. So…that should have been his next stop—"_

"Sammy hang on a sec," Melody said trying to stop him but he didn't listen,

_"I can't figure out why he hasn't destroyed the corpse yet."_

"That's what we're trying to tell you," Dean stopped him from continuing; "He's gone. Dad left Jericho."

_"What? How do you know?"_

Dean patted his jacket where a small bulge was protruding from his chest, "I've got his journal."

Sam paused and weighed what his brother had just said, _"He doesn't go anywhere without that thing."_

"Yeah well…he did this time," Melody added as Dean pulled out their father's journal and flipped open to the page with their names on it.

_"What's it say?" _

"Same old ex-marine crap, when he wants to let us know where he's going," Dean glanced down at Melody who was staring at the open journal intently.

_"Coordinates. Where to?"_

Chewing her lip Melody answered him, "Not sure yet."

_"What the hell is going on?" _Sam sighed exasperated. Melody went to answer him but was stopped when she heard him yell out in surprise. They heard tires screeching and Sam cursing as he tried to regain control of the car.

"Sam?" She called into the phone but got now answer.

"Sammy answer me!" Dean nearly shouted into the speaker. They both listened intently and flinched away from the phone when a mess of screeching, high pitched static flew out of the phone at them and then the line went dead.

Melody gripped Dean's shoulder tightly as he hung up the phone, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Shit!" Dean shouted, grabbing his sister's hand and running out of the phone booth. They ran for the first car they saw and broke into it, both brother and sister shattering the glass of the driver and passenger windows.

"Come on! Come on!" Melody rushed her brother as he yanked out the wires and started flicking two of them together.

"I'm going! Shut up!" He yelled back at her, and then finally they heard the engine grumble to life.

"Go, go, go!" Melody shouted as Dean peeled the car out and sped down the road. "How far is the house?" she asked reaching into her jacket and pulling out a small, compact 9mm pistol. The silver gun glinted up at her as she pulled out the magazine checking to make sure it was full. Satisfied she slammed the clip back in and pulled back the hammer.

"Not sure," he commented pulling out his own gun.

"Well you should be sure," Melody grumbled taking his gun and checking it for him so Dean could focus on driving.

"Stuff it Mels, I don't need your attitude right now," Dean snapped at her as he pressed down on the gas pedal moving their car even faster down the road.

Clenching her jaw Melody held back from giving him a sarcastic, clipping comment. They were both worried and fighting each other would not help them get to Sam any faster. Silently, Melody handed Dean's gun back to him and he took it without a word.

As they sped down the country road Melody cracked her knuckles as she glanced over at Dean. "Sorry I'm just…scared. I mean dad's missing-possibly dead-and now Sammy is in trouble and—"

"Ah…no chick-flick moments squirt," he grumbled glancing over at her. He saw her chew her lip and nod silently. Dammit, Dean thought. He had probably upset her and was not helping to make her feel any better. Sighing he reached over and patted her shoulder, "He'll…he'll be alright Mels. Sammy can take care of himself."

Melody gave him a half smile and nodded her head quickly, "Yeah…he can take care of himself."

* * *

Sam gripped the steering wheel as the car drove in and pulled to a stop in front of an old, worn down house. "Don't do this," he pleaded with the ghost of Constance Welch who was sitting in the back seat.

The woman ignored him and looked at her old house, "I can never go home," she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"You're scared to go home," Sam realized turning around to face her but she was gone. Looking forward again he searched around for any sign of the spirit and nearly jumped when he looked over at the passenger seat and saw Constance facing him…her eyes now had a glint of menace in them.

Before he could react, Constance had thrown him back against the seat and was crawling on top of his lap. "Hold me," the spirit begged him, "I'm so cold."

"You can't kill me," Sam said to her a tone of determination taking over his voice; "I'm not unfaithful. I've never been."

Constance ran her hands over his chest and arms then pulled him up so her mouth was next to his ear, "You will be." She gripped his face in her cold, clammy hands and placed her icy lips onto his. Sam grimaced against the feeling of her lips against his own. He stretched his arm out behind her, reaching for the keys in the ignition.

The spirit, catching on to what he was trying to do, leaned up and flickered away but not before a skeletal, ghoul face grinned down at him. Sam looked around, confused as to what was happening. Before he could register what was going on he felt a searing, burning pain in his chest. Sam screamed and unzipped his jacket looking down at his shirt he saw five holes digging into his skin. Constance Welch's spirit flickered in front of him, ghoul face grinning wickedly at him.

* * *

Melody nearly jumped out of the car when Dean pulled it to a stop, the Impala was only a few feet away. They could hear Sam's screams coming from inside the car. Whipping out her pistol Melody ran up to the driver side door and pulled the trigger. Constance stared back at her and flickered away, eyes dark and angry.

Lowering her weapon Melody felt Dean join her and all three siblings paused, thinking they were safe. Sam let out a sigh of relief that turned into a groaning, screeching moan. Constance Welch had come back and was staring at Dean and Melody, taunting them as she dug her fingers deeper into their brother's chest. Raising his gun, Dean pulled the trigger and shot at her until the ghost disappeared.

Sam without hesitating sat up and turned the key in the ignition. "I'm taking you home." He growled and slammed his foot onto the gas pedal driving the car straight into the house.

Melody watched in silent terror as her little brother crashed the Impala into the side of the old house, "Sam!" she called running toward the car, stepping over broken furniture.

"Sammy!" Dean yelled as he and his sister ran around the side of the car, "You okay?"

Groaning and panting Sam answered them, "I think."

"Can you move?" Melody asked him trying to pry open the passenger door but it wouldn't budge. Dean gently moved her aside and reached in a hand for their brother.

"Yeah, help me out." Sam groaned as Dean pulled him out of the car and Melody put his arm around her shoulder.

All three Winchesters looked over and saw the spirit of Constance Welch standing a few feet in front of them. She had an old picture frame in her hands, that sad, pathetic look on her face again. However when she looked up at the siblings, her eyes glinted with fury. Tossing aside the picture frame she thrust her hands out in front of her, sending an old dresser to slam against the Winchesters, pinning them to the side of the car.

Groaning Melody tried to push away the dresser but only felt it tighten against them. That's when they heard the sounds of electricity crackling and water running. Looking up they saw water pouring down the steps. Constance flickered over to the end of the steps and stared up to the top. There were two children, shadowed in the darkness and holding hands.

"You've come home to us, mommy." Constance began to panic and turned away only to find her children standing in front of her. She gasped and then screamed out in agony when the kids wrapped their arms around her. Her spirit flickered and the ghoul face came back, grimacing in pain.

The whole house shook and groaned as Constance threw her head back and yelled out against the forces dragging her down. Blue and orange flames surrounded her and soon there was nothing but a puddle of water where she had last been standing.

Grunting Dean and his siblings threw down the dresser and let out sighs of relief. Walking up to the puddle Melody grimaced and held her stomach, "So this is where she drowned her kids."

"That's why she could never go home," Sam nodded at her, "She was too scared to face them."

"You found her weak spot. Nice work Sammy," Dean praised him patting his brother on the shoulder.

"Wish I could say the same for you," Sam said as he felt Melody wrap an arm around his waist, "What were you two thinking shooting Casper in the face?"

"Hey," Melody pinched his side, "We saved your ass."

Dean leaned down and began inspecting the Impala, "I'll tell you another thing. If you screwed up my car, I'll kill you."

* * *

Melody stretched her back as Dean drove the Impala down the road, soft rock music playing in the background. "Okay," Sam began and she leaned up to look down at the map he was inspecting, "Here's where dad went. It's called Blackbottle Ridge, Colorado."

"Sounds charming," Dean commented reaching down to change the radio station.

"How far is it?" Melody asked peering at the map.

"About six-hundred miles," Sam answered her pointing out the town for her.

Nodding Dean looked over at Melody and ruffled her hair before returning his attention to the road, "Well if we haul ass we can get there by morning."

Melody saw Sam pause and open his mouth, "Dean um…"

"You're not going," Dean finished for him. Melody, defeated and trying to avoid any argument sat back in her seat and started playing with her hair to try and distract herself.

"The interview's in ten hours. I got to be there."

"Yeah," Dean nodded slightly disappointed, "Yeah whatever, I'll take you home."

* * *

Rubbing her tired eyes Melody stretched as Dean pulled the car to a stop in front of Sam's apartment. The youngest Winchester got out of the car, bag in hand and leaned down to look in the window, "You'll call me if you find him?"

Afraid he might say something wrong Dean only nodded at his brother.

"Maybe I can meet up with you later, huh?" Sam tried again to get a response from Dean.

"Yeah, all right," Dean said a bit too quickly. Looking at the back seat Sam smiled, "Promise you'll call squirt?"

"Only if you do," she gave him a sad grin. There was a small, awkward pause and Sam gave them a tiny wave then turned to walk away and back to his home.

Dean turned over the engine but before he could pull the car away he heard Melody say, "Hold on a minute." Glancing back he saw her get out of the car quickly and run up to Sam.

"Sammy?" Melody called jogging up to him. He turned around and was nearly crushed when he felt his sister wrap her arms around his stomach, squeezing him tightly. "Good luck with the interview. I know you'll make it."

She pulled back and Sam couldn't help but smile down at her, "I'll miss you Mel."

Melody cracked a smile and punched him in the chest, "Miss you already moose." Sam pulled her in for another quick hug then turned and headed back inside his apartment. Fighting tears Melody returned to the passenger seat of the Impala.

"You are such a girl," Dean chuckled as he pulled the car away.

"Aw come on brother-bear," Melody said reaching over and lightly slapping Dean's cheek a few times, "You know how much you love having a sister."

Dean could only laugh at her as she reached down at turned up the radio. Melody laughed out loud as she heard her favorite song, "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim come on and then she started singing along to it, dancing in her seat and trying to get Dean to join in. He could only smile at her and turn up the radio even louder. When asked about it, Dean would say he was trying to drown out his sister's terrible singing. But the truth was…he just couldn't stop his sister's fun, she deserved more moments like this.

As the song ended Melody giggled and sat back in her seat. She looked towards the back seat and began searching around the floorboards, "Oh no! Dean!"

"What's up?"

"My necklace, you know the crosses and mom's ring? The silver one?" She asked animatedly.

"Yeah, what about it?"

Running a hand through her hair she groaned, "I left it in Sam's bag. He was fixing the little clasp for me on our way to Jericho and I completely forgot about it."

"Don't say another word squirt," Dean said slowing the car and turning to head back in the other direction, "We'll get you the necklace."

Melody sighed with relief. The necklace was made up of three different pieces. One long silver chain with a large silver cross, a smaller titanium cross and hanging next to them was a ring. It was their mother's engagement ring. As a baby Melody had been prone to stealing shiny things, especially her mother's jewelry. And it just so happens that the night their mother was killed was the night Melody had stuffed the beautiful engagement ring into her pockets.

Before she could reflect further on her mom, Dean had pulled up to the apartment. "You coming with me?"

Pursing his lips Dean thought for a moment and then shrugged, "Sure why not."

As they walked up the pathway to Sam's apartment Dean threw an arm around her shoulders. Melody grinned, "So we are going to knock this time ri—"

"_NO!_"

Dean and Melody sprang into action when they heard their brother scream from inside the home. Kicking open the door Dean yelled at the top of his lungs, "Sam?!"

"Jess!"

Melody followed her brother as they moved toward the back of the apartment. She felt the flames before she saw them. Coming into the main bedroom Melody gasped and froze, her entire body struck with fear. Jessica was on the ceiling, covered in flames as more and more of the fire consumed the whole room.

"Sam! Sam!" Dean nearly screamed over the rushing powerful sounds of the fire.

"No! Jess! No!" Sam had huddled up into a ball on the bed as he covered his eyes from the fire, tears streaking down his face.

Dean acting quickly picked up Sam and began shoving him out of the room all while Sam still called out for his girlfriend. "Mels! Melody!" Dean's voice brought her back to reality. Shaking herself and ignoring the stream of tears running down her face, Melody grabbed hold of Sam and started pulling him out of the apartment with Dean pushing them back.

They ran out of the apartment, Sam still calling out, "Jess! Jessica!"

A booming explosion was his answer that sent all three Winchesters sprawling onto the grass. Sam would not calm down though. He jumped up and made to run back into the apartment, "Jessica! No!"

Dean and Melody were on their feet and holding him back. "Enough Sam! She's gone!" Dean shouted at his brother and only got a solid shove in the chest from him.

"No you're lying!" Sam made to enter the apartment again but was stopped when he felt his sister's hands pushing against his shoulders.

Looking down he saw the exact same amount of tears on her face as she cried out, "Sammy stop!" and he did letting out a shaky whimper as she continued in a much calmer voice, "Sam I'm sorry…Jessica is gone."

That did it for him. Sam broke down and began sobbing loudly as he fell to the ground on his knees. He felt a pair of slim but strong arms wrap around his neck and realized he smelled pineapple…his sister's favorite shampoo.

Melody wrapped her arms around her brother and let him bury his head into her shoulder as he cried and sobbed loudly. All she could do was rub his back and repeat, "I'm sorry," to him over and over. Looking up at Dean she watched him kneel down next to them and gently wrap an arm around Sam's quaking shoulders.

The Winchester siblings stayed like this on the ground until the heard the sirens. Taking in a deep, shuttering breath Sam pulled away from Melody's shoulder and began standing up with help from his siblings. Without exchanging a word Sam walked away from them, leaving Dean and Melody to deal with the authorities.

Looking down at his sister, Dean realized how disheveled she looked, "Uh…M-Mels?"

Sniffling she wiped her eyes, "I'm fine Dean just…uh yeah…I'm fine."

Melody crossed her arms over her stomach and felt Dean wrap an arm across her shoulders. They stood near the back as a crowd began to form and the fire engines arrived. Waiting several minutes so as to not look suspicious they turned to leave, walking toward the parked Impala.

Coming around the back both Dean and Melody heard the distinct sound of a rifle being cocked. Looking over they saw Sam standing at the trunk with said rifle in his hands. All three Winchesters stared at each other, looks of knowing and understanding passing between them.

Sam sighed and nodded, the last of his tears falling past his cheeks. Tossing the rifle back into the trunk he reach out and started to close it, "We got work to do."

* * *

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	4. Back home to Kansas

**There is something wrong with me...I think I'm addicted or maybe obsessed. Probably both :D **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_November 10, 2005_

_Well…that happened. Jessica, Sam's girlfriend died at least a week ago. The terrifying part is that she dies on the exact same date mom did…same way too. God it was absolutely horrible seeing that. I mean, dad has always told us what he saw, how mom died but I never thought I would actually see it firsthand. Poor Sam is a wreck. He's hardly slept at all since it happened and when he does…all he has are nightmares._

_Like right now. We're driving toward Colorado at the moment and he just jerked awake. I wish I knew what to say to him. I don't think Dean knows either I mean…he just offered for Sam to drive the Impala. I think Hell just froze over for a second. Dean never asks anyone to drive the car, let alone offers it up._

_Sam is trying to tell Dean he's okay but we both know he isn't. Oh now Sam wants to know what I'm writing, ya that will be a cold day in hell when either of my brothers gets their hands on this thing. Well we're just outside of Grand Junction and should be hitting our destination pretty soon. Sam just said something about staying in Stanford for longer. Yeah…whatever killed Jessica, killed mom and that thing certainly likes to be off the radar. I don't think we would have found anything to bring us any closer to whatever it was that killed them. Yellow Eyes…that's how dad always referred to him-it-whatever. _

_I poked around his journal for a while. Most of it was just information on monsters and such but the first few pages…those were really dad speaking. There was an entry marked for my birthdate, October 31, 1981. I couldn't bring myself to read it. It would feel like I was intruding on something private. _

_Oh semi good news. Sammy had found my necklace before…well…but before the chaos began he had stuffed it into his pocket. So I got that back…mom's ring and grandma and grandpa's crosses. I wonder what they were like. Mom's parents…I hope they were nice. I mean they had to be if they raised mom…anyways I'm starting to ramble. Here's hoping that we find dad pretty soon. We all need him…Sammy most of all._

* * *

_November 15, 2005_

_It was a Windigo…a freaking WINDIGO! Ugh! I hate those damn things. At first we thought maybe it was a skin walker, simple-kill it with silver. Or maybe a black dog…but nope it just had to be a scary ass WINDIGO! Bleh! It took me at least an hour to wash out all of the blood from my hair. And to top it all off dad wasn't even there! Sam was being extra mouthy…and Dean thinks that dad wasn't even anywhere near Black Water Creek. He thinks dad wants us to take over the family business. But it's just too hard to accept. Why wouldn't dad call or leave a clearer note or…God…I just want dad to be here. _

_I remember this one night about a year ago I started crying. I had tried to call Sam but he wouldn't answer and I was absolutely heartbroken. Dean had gone out drinking or with a girl I don't know exactly. But I started crying and dad didn't say a word, he just sat down on the couch next to me and held my head against his shoulder. I fell asleep on him and woke up the next morning still on the couch with dad's arm still around me. It was one of the few times he acted like a real father to me._

_Anyways back to the…ugh…Windigo. It took me and this girl we were with Hailey. Yeah, damn thing snatched us up and took us to its hideout/lair/creepy cave home thing. Ugh it was just gross…but luckily my brothers have moments where they are awesome and they found us. I think Dean was about to cry when he saw me. Got to make sure I hold that over his head later on, could be good leverage._

_Well Dean went off to be a hero and Sam and I were left to lead the group of civilians out of the caves. We only had two flare guns and Sam used his-and missed-and then we were all cornered and I thought we were going to die but then, "ta-da!" Dean swooped in to save the day. That's my big brother…always there when I need him most._

* * *

_December 7, 2005_

_I am seriously about to collapse. We've worked more jobs than I can count the past weeks. We almost just died in a plane. A demon was terrorizing different airports in Pennsylvania. We took care of it but the scariest part…it knew about Jessica. Dean and I are trying to tell Sam that these things just read minds, that's how they mess with you but he won't hear it. I mean Sam barely sleeps anymore. Normally we sleep in shifts but lately, Sam's been letting me have the bed all night. I'm starting to get past just plain worried and going into absolutely concerned at this point. _

_Jerry Panowski, a guy we helped out with a poltergeist a few years ago, was the one who got us onto the job at first. He said that he got Dean's number from dad. Dad! Well he didn't exactly talk to him, Jerry said he got a voicemail that said to call Dean's phone if it was an emergency but…this just means that dad is still alive!_

_Sam is just pissed and I am a little too but…this just gives me hope. I mean, yes dad obviously is more concerned about whatever it is he's doing but…He. Is. Alive. And that is all that I care about right now. I think I've called that number twenty times today. I like hearing dad's voice, even though it just makes me miss him more._

* * *

_December 31, 2005_

_Welp, it's new year's eve and we're celebrating it Winchester style. How does that go? Oh it's simple, the littlest brother sulks in a corner while his two older siblings spend all night trying to get him to say SOMETHING! I swear Sam and his whole pitty-party have got to stop. I know, he lost his girlfriend who he was obviously in love with and we can't find dad who seems to not want to be found but still. He could at least put it aside for one night and sit with his brother and sister and have a beer._

_Oh wait…Dean's convinced him to sit with us. I'll get back to you and let you know how it goes._

* * *

Melody sighed and opened up her chocolate brown leather journal to a fresh page. Taking out her pen she scribbled down the date "March 30, 2006" at the top. She looked up and watched her brothers. Dean was sitting at the table across from her on the laptop, sipping at his coffee. Sam was on his bed doing…something with a pad and pen.

"All right," Dean began and Melody shut her journal deciding to write later, "I've been cruising some websites. Think I found a few candidates for our next gig. A…fishing trawler found off the coast of Cali. It's crew vanished."

"Oh…ghost pirates?" Melody grinned resting her chin in her hands as she tried to peer over at the laptop screen.

"Wouldn't that be something?" Dean chuckled then glanced back down and continued, "There's also some cattle mutilations in west Texas."

"Hmm," Melody scrunched up her face in thought, "I can't decide. Sammy what do you think?"

Looking over at her younger brother she saw him engrossed in his paper and pen, not paying attention to either of his siblings. "Hey!" Dean called getting Sam's attention, "Are we boring you with this hunting evil stuff?"

"No, I'm listening. Keep going," Sam mumbled returning to his paper.

Tapping his own pen against the surface of the table Dean gave Melody a look and continued reading, "And here a Sacramento man shot himself in the head," he held out his thumb, middle and index finger, "Three times."

"Any of these things blowin up your skirt, moose?" Melody asked Sam sipping at her own coffee.

Sam didn't answer her for a second, only stared at his paper. After a moment he commented, "I've seen this before," as he flipped between pages.

"Seen what?" Dean asked but Sam didn't answer him. Instead he stood from his bed and dug through Dean's duffle bag until he pulled out their father's journal.

"What are you doing?" Melody squinted her eyes at her brother as he frantically flipped through the pages of the journal. He finally came to a stop when he pulled out a picture and held it up against his paper.

"Guys," he said finally looking his siblings in the eye for the first time that morning, "I know where we have to go next."

"Where?" Dean shrugged his shoulders while Melody slowly sipped at her coffee and watched her brother intently. She could tell there was something on Sam's mind and what he said next nearly threw her for a loop.

"Back home," he stated, "Back to Kansas."

Dean scoffed, "Okay, random. Where'd that come from?"

"All right um…" he fumbled for the right words as he came over to stand by the table, "This photo was taken in front of our old house right? The house where mom died?"

He set down the picture and both Dean and Melody glanced over it. "Yeah…and?" Melody pried for the point. She didn't like where this was going.

"It didn't burn down completely. They rebuilt it, right?" Sam questioned them and Melody didn't like how he sounded…excited.

"I-I guess so, yeah," Dean said looking down at the picture again before handing it to Melody. She stared at it, hard. Trying to memorize every detail of the woman she saw in the photo. The picture was probably taken a few weeks before her death. Little Melody was hanging on her father's back, who was holding up Dean. Their mom had baby Sam in her arms; it looked like she was the one who had taken to snapshot.

"Sammy what are you getting at?" Melody felt herself grumble as she set the picture down.

"Okay, look," Sam began gently, "This is gonna sound crazy, the people who live in our old house, I think they might be in danger."

"Why would you think that?" Dean asked picking up the photo again and absent mindedly moving it between his fingers.

"Uh…just, um…" Sam again fumbled for the right words, "Look, just—you got to trust me on this, okay?"

Melody and Dean both gave each other a curious stare. "Trust you Sam? That's it?" she questioned as Dean walked over to stand closer to him.

"Come on man, that's weak. You got to give us a little bit more than that."

Sam hastily packed his bag, "I can't really explain it is all."

Melody stood to join Sam and threw out her hands in an exasperated sigh while Dean gave him a slightly concerned and slightly annoyed look, "Well tough. Mels and I aren't going anywhere until you do."

Sighing and stopping in his hasty packing, Sam began explaining slowly, "I have these nightmares."

"Yeah, we noticed," Melody remarked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"And sometimes…they come true," Sam admitted to them. Dean glanced at Melody and could see that they were both very confused.

"Come again?" Dean probed, not sure he heard Sam correctly.

"Look I," Sam took in a breath, "I dreamt about Jessica's death for days before it happened."

"Sane people have weird dreams Sam. I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Dean shrugged moving to sit down on one of the beds.

Melody stayed standing and moved closer to Sam as he explained himself, "No I dreamt about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire, everything and I didn't do anything cause I didn't believe it. And now I'm dreaming about that tree, our house, and about some woman inside screaming for help. I mean," he pointed to the photo in Dean's hand, "That's where it all started. This has to mean something, right?"

There was a lapse of silence as both Dean and Melody took in what Sam had just told them. Slowly, Melody sat down next to her older brother and stared down at the picture. "Sam I…" she felt her voice tremble and stopped before she gave away how scared she was.

"I…I don't know," Dean shook his head, unaware of how frightened Melody had become.

"You don't know?" Sam repeated. He got a little more animated and sat down on the bed across from them, "This woman might be in danger. This might be the thing that killed mom and Jessica—"

Frustrated and also a little scared himself Dean stood from the bed, "All right just slow down would ya?"

Melody hugged her arms to herself tighter and stared at the wall while she listened to Dean continue, "I mean, first you're telling us that you've got the shining…and then you tell us that we've got to go back home? Especially when…"

He trailed off and Melody closed her eyes as she fought back the tears. "When what?" she heard Sam probe from the seat across from her.

"When Mels and I both swore to each other…that neither of us would go back there."

Melody squeezed her eyes and clenched her jaw. This was too much, she was terrified, absolutely terrified. She could not go back there…

"Look," Sam said gently, standing from his seat, "We have to check this out. Just to make sure."

She heard a long pause and after what seemed like an eternity Dean finally spoke, "I know we do."

Quickly Sam started packing up the bags and Dean told him to take them to the car. Looking over he noticed that Melody hadn't moved from her spot on the edge of the bed since they had agreed to go back to their old home.

Sighing Dean moved over and gently sat down next to his sister. Her eyes were still closed and she was absent mindedly playing with the ring that hung off her necklace. It was a simple, white gold band with a tear-shaped blue opal set into it surrounded by tiny diamonds. She always messed with the ring when she was scared or nervous.

Speaking as softly as he could Dean gently bumped shoulders with her, "Hey squirt." But she didn't answer him or move, only continued to fiddle with the ring around her neck. Talking obviously wouldn't get her to speak so Dean went for another tactic. He reached over and flipped on the bed side radio. Turning through channel after channel he finally stopped on a song he knew would cheer her up.

Dean slowly turned up the volume as Ben E. King's "Stand By Me" filled up the small room. Melody fought back the smile that was threatening to crawl across her face.

Melody cracked open her eyes to find Dean standing in front of her, hands held out and a pouting look on his face. She gave in, letting the smile brighten her features and she took his hands and Dean lifted her up and started pulling her arms up and down. Melody laughed when he started doing the wave with their arms, starting with one side and finishing up with the other. He pulled her arms back and forth and in every direction and began singing to the song.

Melody only laughed more. It was the very song Dean had sang to her on her sixteenth birthday. They were at Bobby's and had stolen a bottle of whiskey. Of course her brother had gotten more than a little tipsy and had belted out the song to her while they sat in the junk yard. From that day on it had always been their sort of…anthem together. He would always sing it when she was in a sour mood. Dean kept his hands locked with hers and pulled her in, going into the classic 'tango' stance and pulled them around the tiny room.

"Come on Mels, you know the words," he grinned down at her. Melody snorted and chuckled as he sang louder and louder. Dean spun her around and bowed dramatically to her, causing another fit of giggles to come over her.

Wiping the corners of her eyes Melody went over to shut off the radio, cutting the song in the middle of the lyrics. Turning back to look at him she took in a deep breath. "You always know how to make me feel better."

"Well, what kind of big brother would I be if I didn't know how?"

Crossing her arms over her stomach Melody fixed the bottom of her white tank top and messed with the collar of her red plaid shirt. "I'm afraid of that house Dean," she admitted shuffling her feet.

"I know," he closed the distance between them and placed his hands on her shoulders, "But I promise you Mels, no matter what happens in that house, no matter what we find…we will never go back there again after this."

She looked up at him, fresh tears welling in her eyes, "Promise?"

Dean grinned and held out his left pinky finger, "I promise."

Melody let out a breathy laugh and crossed her pinky with his. "Love ya brother bear."

"Yeah…love ya too squirt," he grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulder leading her out to the car.

* * *

Dean pulled the car to a stop. Melody let out a breath of shaky air as she looked out the window. The house was just sitting there, staring at her; she felt a chill run up her spine and leaned her chin onto Dean's shoulder.

After they left the motel room Melody had practically begged to sit in the front seat with her brothers. Dean didn't argue and Sam, after receiving a stern look from his older brother did not argue either.

"You two gonna be alright?" Sam asked his siblings, trying to hold back his eagerness to see the house.

Dean watched the house for a bit and felt Melody bury her face into his shoulder, "We'll get back to you on that."

Sam patted his sister's back softly then got out of the car. Dean sighed and ruffled Melody's hair, "Let's get this over with squirt."

Melody could only grunt and she was pulled out of the car by her brother. Sam led the way up the steps with Dean and their sister close behind him. Knocking they waited only half a minute before a pretty, blonde woman stuck her head out around the door, "Yes?"

Dean started, "Hi miss we're with the federal—"

"I'm Sam Winchester," the youngest sibling interrupted him and continued, "This is my brother, Dean and our sister, Melody. Um…we used to live here."

Melody felt her eyes widen and looked over at Sam giving him the best equivalent of a 'what the hell are you doing' face. Unknowing of the dirty looks he was receiving from his siblings Sam continued, "You know, we were just driving by, and we were wondering if we could see the old place."

The woman tested the name, "Winchester," and then squinted her eyes at the three, "You know that is so funny. I…I think I found some of your photos the other night."

"You did?" Dean questioned her, hands in his pockets. He felt Melody wrap her hands around his elbow as the blonde woman seemed to gage who they were.

"Yeah uh…come in," she smiled at them warmly and opened the door fully, allowing them to enter, "I'm Jenny by the way." Melody gave her a half smile as she stepped through the door.

They walked through the threshold; Melody wrapped her arms completely around Dean's left arm, holding on to him tightly. Almost as soon as she glanced around the home, she felt lost memories begin to resurface. They were memories she'd rather leave behind…they made it all the more difficult to accept the death of her mother.

The Winchesters were led into the kitchen. Glancing over Melody saw a little boy in a crib jumping up and down repeating the word, "Juice," over and over.

"That's Richie," Jenny said unlatching the fridge and pulling out a small orange cup, "He's kind of a juice junkie. But, hey, at least he won't get scurvy," she kneeled down and gave her son the cup before walking back to stand behind the little girl who was working on homework at the kitchen table,

"Sari, this is Sam, Dean and Melody. They used to live here."

"Hi," Sari greeted them shyly.

Dean and Melody could only give her half smiles and small waves while Sam was a bit more open with her, "Hey Sari."

"So," Dean began trying to make small talk, "You just moved in?"

"Uh yeah," Jenny said, "From Wichita."

"You got family here?" Dean continued with the small talk, feeling Melody begin to relax a little.

"No," Jenny answered, "I just uh…needed a fresh start that's all. So new town, new job—I mean, as soon as I find one—new house."

"So how you liking it so far?" Sam asked glancing around the kitchen.

"Well uh, all due respect to your childhood home—I mean, I'm sure you have lots of happy memories here—but this place has its issues."

"What do you mean?" Melody spoke to her for the first time.

Jenny seemed a bit surprised to hear her voice but let it pass and answered, "Well, it's just getting old like…the wiring, you know? We've got flickering lights almost hourly."

Dean felt Melody's grip tighten at the mention of 'flickering lights' and added, "That's too bad. What else?"

"Um…sink's backed up. There are rats in the basement," she paused and an awkward silence fell over the group, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain."

"No," Dean smiled warmly and shook his head, "Have you seen the rats or just heard scratching?"

"Just the scratching actually."

"Mom?" Sari called from her seat. Her mom kneeled down and Sari questioned, "Ask them if it was here when they lived here."

"What, Sari?" Sam asked the little girl, slight concern taking over his voice.

"The thing in my closet," she answered him.

"Oh," her mom started gently, "No, baby, there was nothing in their closets. Right?" Looking back at the three Winchesters she gave them a warm smile but Melody could tell she wanted them to play along.

"Right, no, of course not," Sam answered her.

"She had a nightmare the other night," Sari's mom began explaining but the little girl quickly defended herself,

"I wasn't dreaming. It came into my bedroom, and it was on fire."

Dean felt the circulation in his arm come to a complete halt as Melody gripped him even tighter. Taking that as his cue he gave Sari and her mother quick goodbyes saying they didn't want to overstay their welcome and led his siblings out of the house.

Sam excited and eager did not notice his sister's tense look or the fact that she had not let go of their oldest brother at all as they stepped out of the house. "You hear that?" Sam insisted, "A figure on fire."

"And that woman Jenny, that was the woman in your dreams?" Dean asked pointing back at the house.

"Yeah," Sam confirmed, "And you hear what she was talking about—scratching, flickering lights? Both signs of a malevolent spirit."

They continued walking quickly back to the Impala and Dean could only nod at his brother's enthusiasm, "I'm just freaked out your weirdo visions are coming true."

Sam scoffed, "Forget about that for a minute—the thing in the house, do you think it's the thing that killed mom and Jessica?"

"I don't know," Dean answered him harshly. Melody gripped him even harder and chewed her lip trying to hold back from snapping at Sam. He was really beginning to get on her nerves.

"Well I mean, has it come back or has it been there the whole time?" They all stopped by their car. Melody had to literally bite her tongue as Dean snapped back at Sam,

"Or maybe it's something else entirely Sam, we don't know yet."

"Those people are in danger," Sam answered quickly pointing at the house again, "We have to get them out of there."

Dean sighed pulling Melody toward the car, "And we will."

"No I mean now," Sam demanded.

She'd had enough, Melody let go of Dean and stepped in front of him staring up at Sam she fumed, "How Sammy? You got a story she can believe?"

"Then what are we supposed to do?" he asked her throwing out his arms.

Gritting her teeth Melody clenched her fists, "Not be complete idiots about it! How about that?"

"Melody what are you—"

"No Sam, you stop and you listen to me right now," she growled stepping up closer to him, "You just made me go in there and relive possibly one of the worst memories I have all because of some freaky dream _you've_ been having _and_ you expect me to just sit aside and let you treat this…disaster like it's nothing? Sam I'm sorry but you really need to calm down before I shoot you in the foot."

Sam felt his eyes roll, "What are you talking about Melody? Isn't this what you want to do? Save innocent people? Hunt things?"

"You don't understand my point Sam. That house is where it all started. And I need…" she paused as her voice began to tremble. Taking in a deep breath she continued, "I need you to slow down for me. Please…I'll help you save that family but I…I can't just run into that house like that again. Please Sammy it's…it's too much-too fast."

Melody kept her arms at her sides, fists slowly unclenching but she could feel her whole body shaking. Sam, realizing for the first time that day how scared his sister was couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. This whole time he had never stopped to ask her how she was. He never thought about her…only himself.

"Melody I…"

She stopped him by holding up a trembling hand, "No, it's okay. I just…need a beer or…several."

Dean, after watching his sister explode on their youngest brother lightly placed his hand on her shoulder, "I need to get gas anyways. Come on, I'll buy you a six pack."

Without another word, all three siblings got into the Impala; Sam lingered outside of the car and watched Melody slip into the back seat. Sighing Sam felt his shoulders slump and then he got into the back with her. At first Melody only tensed up and sat very still, unsure and not really wanting to deal with her kid brother anymore. However when Sam pulled her in next to him wrapping both arms around her shoulders she relaxed and laid her head down onto his own shoulder.

Dean pulled the Impala away, trying to give his siblings as much privacy as he could, though he did glance back at them several times in the rear view mirror. Melody sighed and patted her hand on Sam's forearm, "It's okay Sammy," she whispered to him and he only answered by holding her tighter.

* * *

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	5. Missouri Moseley

**I'm so exhausted...these characters and the feeeels! It's almost too much sometimes...but then again the feels are what keeps me going so it turns into a paradox sort of thing. Heh, is it obvious that i'm very tired? I'll stop talking now...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

Melody leaned against the trunk of the Impala and opened up her second can of beer sipping at the cold, bitter liquid as Dean sighed and leaned on his hands next to her. "We just gotta chill out, that's all. If this was any other kind of job, what would we do?"

Sam exhaled sharply and pushing himself off the side of the car answered, "We'd try to figure out what we were dealing with. We'd dig into the history of the house."

"Exactly," Dean nodded at him, satisfied that both of his siblings had calmed down enough to talk normally.

Melody took another large gulp of her beer, "Only this time we already know what happened."

Dean stood up straight and put one hand in his pocket, using the other to take the open beer can from his sister. She didn't complain only shrugged and opened up a third one. Sam sat down on the trunk and looked between Melody and Dean,

"Yeah, but how much do we know? How much do you two remember?"

"About that night?" Dean checked with him.

"Yeah," Sam nodded.

"Not much," Dean began taking another sip of beer, "I remember the fire…the heat—"

"The sounds," Melody added quietly, "I remember hearing a scream it…it sounded like mom. Dean and I ran out into the hall and saw dad. He practically threw you into Dean's arms and…"

"And then I carried you out the front door. Mels held my hand tighter than she ever has that night," he added glancing over at her.

Sam looked up at his brother, "You…carried me?"

"Yeah," he turned his head toward Sam, "Practically carried you both I mean, I had to almost drag Melody out of the house—she was trying to go back for mom. What, you never knew that?"

"No," Sam answered him quietly and slowly shaking his head.

"Well," Melody said clearing her throat, "You know dad's story. Mom was on the ceiling, and…whatever put her there was long gone by the time dad found her."

She gulped down the rest of her beer while Sam questioned, "And he never had a theory about what did it?"

Dean sighed, "If he did, he kept it to himself. God knows I mean," he sat down on the trunk in between his brother and sister, "We asked him enough times."

"So, if we're gonna figure out what's going on now," Sam started planning putting his own hands into his pockets, "We have to figure out what happened back then, and see if it's the same thing."

Melody nodded finishing up the last of her beer, "Figured we'd talk to dad's friends, old neighbors…people who were there at the time you know?"

Dean patted her shoulder while Sam laughed quietly. "Does this feel like just another job?"

Neither of his siblings could answer. Melody only crumbled up her beer can while Dean swallowed, "I'll be back. I gotta go to the bathroom." He took her empty can and threw both his and hers into a trash bin as he stalked off.

Dean walked around the corner looking back over his shoulder to see Sam and Melody still sitting on the trunk. Mel had opened up another can of beer and was handing it over to her little brother.

Once he was out of sight, Dean reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He only had to press one number; he had this person on speed-dial. The line rang once and then was picked up by a voicemail,

_"This is John Winchester. If this is an emergency, call my son Dean—715-555-1789."_

The line beeped and Dean gulped, "Dad…" he had to pause and get himself together, "I know I've left you messages before. I don't even know if you get 'em. But uh…Mels and I are with Sam, and we're in Lawrence, and there's something in our old house. I don't know if it's the thing that killed mom or not, but…"

His voice cracked and Dean struggled to fight back the tears, "I don't know what to do. I mean, Melody is…_terrified_ dad she…uh," he took in a large, shaking breath, "So, whatever you're doing, if you could get here…_please_. I need your help, dad."

Hanging up the phone Dean felt a lone tear fall down his face. Stuffing the device back into his pocket he quickly wiped his eyes and took several deep breaths. A part of him hoped that dad would get the message and come to Lawrence but…he had a terrible feeling that that was just not going to happen.

* * *

"So you and John Winchester you uh, you used to own this garage together?" Dean asked the owner of 'Speedy's Repair Shop' with his siblings following him.

"Yeah we used to," the owner said moving from car to car, "A long time ago. Matter of fact, must be 20 years since John disappeared," he picked up a rag and wiped oil off his hands turning around to face all three of his guests. "So, why are the cops interested all of a sudden?"

"Oh we're reopening some of our unsolved cases," Dean answered him then jerked a thumb toward Melody, "figured we'd give the rookie something to work on. And the Winchester disappearance is one of them."

The mechanic stuffed his rag into a pocket, "Uh-huh. Well, what do you want to know about John?"

"Whatever you remember you know whatever sticks out in your mind." Dean was doing all of the talking for them, afraid his younger siblings might slip up or give something away-especially Melody. She was having a hard enough time being back in Lawrence.

"Well…" the mechanic began thinking back, "He was a stubborn bastard. I remember that. And uh, oh whatever the game, he hated to lose, you know? It was that whole marine thing. But uh…well he sure loved Mary and he doted on those kids. Especially his daughter—treated her like a princess every chance he got."

Melody couldn't help but grin at that. If only it had always been that way. Growing up as daddy's little girl, getting him to buy her whatever she wanted with just a look. Sam spoke up next to her,

"But that was before the fire."

"Yeah that's right."

"Did he ever talk about that night?" Sam asked him.

The mechanic paused and took a moment before he replied, "No, not at first. I think he was in shock."

"Right," Sam nodded, "But eventually—what did he say about it?"

"Oh, he wasn't thinking straight. He said uh—he said something caused that fire and killed Mary."

"He ever say what did it?" Sam requested more information.

"Nothing did it," the mechanic crossed his arms and looked up at Sam like he had grown a second head, "It was an accident. An electrical short in the ceilings or walls or something," Melody exchanged looks with her brothers while the man continued, "I begged him to get some help but…"

"But what?" Dean pried.

"Oh, it just got worse and worse."

Melody cleared her throat, "How?"

"Oh, he just started reading these strange old books. He started going to see this palm reader in town."

"Palm reader?" Dean asked pulling out a loose piece of paper and pen, "You have a name?"

The man scoffed, "No."

* * *

"All right," Sam began looking down at the phonebook in Melody's hands, "So it looks like there are a few psychics and palm readers in town, there's someone named El Devino um," he laughed, "there's The Mysterious Mr. Fortinsky."

Melody pursed her lips and read the next few names, "Uh, Missouri Moseley, some guy—"

"Wait, wait," Dean stopped them, "Missouri Moseley? That's a psychic?"

"Um…yeah," she answered, "Looks like it."

Getting up from his spot against the car Dean reached into the back seat, "In dad's journal…come here look at this."

Melody set down the phone book and both her and Sam walked over to stand next to Dean. He flipped open the journal and held it up to them, "First page, first sentence…read it."

Sam took the journal and read out loud, " 'I went to Missouri…and I learned the truth.' "

Dean chucked, "I always thought he meant the state."

* * *

Melody sat on the couch in between her brothers and leaned her head against Dean's shoulder as they waited for Missouri Moseley.

"All right then," they all turned when they heard a sweet voice from behind them, "Don't you worry about a thing. Your wife is crazy about you," she waved goodbye to her client and shut the door. Leaning against it she sighed, "Whew…poor bastard—his woman is cold bangin' the gardener."

"Why didn't you tell him?" Dean asked her.

"People don't come here for the truth. They come for good news," she turned to walk away then stopped and looked back at them, "Well? Sam, Dean…Melody, come on already. I ain't got all day."

The Winchesters paused and decided to follow her. Getting up they went into the back of her home where there were warm colors and candles everywhere. Melody felt safe here as she glanced around at the couch and chairs.

"Well," Missouri began turning around to face the siblings and smiling at them and laughed, "Let me look at you. Oh you boys grew up handsome, and you were a goofy looking kid," she chuckled pointing at Dean.

Melody could only laugh along with her. That seemed to draw the woman's attention and she smiled widely at her, "Oh Melody let me look at you," she gently took Melody's face into her hands, "You grew up to be so pretty dear. So much like your mother wearing your heart on your sleeve. Don't be afraid of the house, you're strong like Mary…you can face anything."

She stopped and looked over at the youngest Winchester, taking his hand she said, "Sam…oh honey. I'm sorry about your girlfriend. And your father…he's missing?"

Dean felt his jaw drop and saw Melody was mirroring him. "How'd you know all that?" Sam questioned her.

"Well, you were thinking it, just now," she said as if it was obvious.

"Where is he?"

"Is he okay?" Dean and Melody spoke over each other both becoming a little anxious.

Missouri scrunched up her brow in thought, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Dean scoffed, "You're supposed to be a psychic, right?"

"Boy, you see me sawing some bony tramp in half?" she clipped at him sassily, "You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't just pull facts out of thin air. Sit! Please." She finished gesturing to the couch.

Melody and Sam held back laughs as Dean was taken aback by Missouri's sassy attitude. The Winchesters sat down on the couch, Melody sitting in between her brothers again. Dean leaned back in the seat and before he could move again Missouri pointed a finger at him,

"Boy you put your foot on my coffee table I'm gonna whack you with a spoon."

"I didn't do anything," Dean defended himself.

"Well, you were thinking about it." She clipped back at him. Melody and Sam both laughed at each other then laughed at Dean who gave them both a dirty look.

"Okay so…our dad," Sam began, "When did you first meet him?"

Missouri thought for a minute and then spoke, "He came for a reading a few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say I drew back the curtains for him."

"What about the fire?" Dean insisted, "Do you…do you know about what killed our mom?"

"A little," the psychic nodded, "Your daddy took me to your house. He was hoping I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing."

"Did you?" Melody asked her sitting close to Sam.

"I don't…" she said weakly and trailed off.

"What was it?" Sam pried her for the answer. Missouri only exhaled sharply,

"I don't know. But it was evil." She watched the Winchesters all tense up. Melody sunk into the seat even closer to Sam and felt Dean sit up leaning in close to her. Missouri took a moment to watch the Winchester kids. It was amazing how they all were so in tune with each other. "So," she continued, "you think something's back in that house?"

"Definitely," Sam answered for his siblings.

"I don't understand," Missouri shook her head slowly.

Melody felt her brow crease, "What do you mean?"

"I haven't been back inside, but I've been keeping an eye on the place, and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it acting up now?"

Sam sighed, "I don't know but dad going missing," he glanced over at his brother and sister then back to the psychic, "And Jessica dying and now this house—all happening at once—it just feels like something's starving."

"That's a comforting thought," Dean commented sarcastically.

* * *

Melody stepped up to the large white door and knocked three times. After a short minute the door opened, "Melody…Sam, Dean, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, Jenny," Sam greeted her and then gave Jessie, Jenny's son a small smile. Looking to his right he continued, "Um, this is our friend Missouri."

"If it's not too much trouble," Dean started gently from behind Melody, "We were hoping to show her the house, for old time's sake."

Jenny gave them all a kind grin, "I um…you know, this isn't a good time. I'm kind of busy." She moved to close the door but Dean insisted,

"Listen Jenny, it's important—ow!" he grunted when Missouri slapped the back of his head.

"Give the poor girl a break. Can't you see she's upset?" she scolded him. Melody covered her mouth, trying to fight the fit of giggles that were threatening to spill out. "Forgive this boy he means well," she said to Jenny stepping up to stand in front of the Winchesters, "He's just not the sharpest tool in the shed. But hear me out."

"About what?" Jenny asked, grip tightening on her son.

"About this house."

"What are you talking about?"

Missouri gave her a pointed look, "I think you know what I'm talking about. You think there's something in this house, something that wants to hurt your family. Am I mistaken?"

Jenny voice seemed to tremble, "Who are you?"

"We're people who can help," the psychic answered her, "who can stop this thing, but you're gonna have to trust us a little." Jenny stared at her and then flicked her eyes between the three siblings, gaging all of them, trying to figure out if they were genuine or not. She was about to tell them to leave, to get off her property but Melody slowly stepped forward. Yellow, gold and caramel hair fell over her shoulders as she gave Jenny her most sympathetic look.

"Please, Jenny," sandy brown and green eyes twinkled with empathy, "Let us help you."

* * *

"If there's dark energy around here," Missouri said leading the way into Sari's bedroom, "This room should be the center of it."

Sam looked around the girl's room, "Why?"

"This used to be your nursery, Sam. This is where it all happened." Melody felt the breath leave her lungs and stared up at the ceiling. Dean, noticing her shaking shoulders walked up to stand behind her and squeezed her shoulder tightly before pulling out his EMF detector.

Sam looked back and put an arm around his sister's shoulders knowing now how afraid she was of being in the house. Missouri walked around the room sticking her hand out in front of her. Looking back over her shoulder she nodded at Dean, "That an EMF?"

"Yeah," he answered her, fiddling with the buttons.

The psychic scoffed, "Amateur." She walked around the room again while the EMF started buzzing and blinking up at the Winchesters. Missouri turned around, "I don't know if you three should be disappointed or relieved, but this ain't the thing that took your mom."

"Wha…are you sure?" Melody questioned the psychic who nodded her confirmation at them.

"Well, how do you know?" Sam asked her.

Missouri's brow creased, "It isn't the same energy I felt the last time I was here. It's something different."

Dean watched her move over to the closet and pull the doors open, "What is it?"

"Not it…" she said walking into the closet, "Them. There's more than one spirit in this place."

"What are they doing here?" Dean asked her all but forgetting about the EMF detector in his hands.

"They're here because of what happened to your family," she explained to them walking out of the closet to stand in front of the siblings, "You see, all those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds, and sometimes wounds get infected."

Sam felt his hold on Melody tighten, "I don't understand."

"This place is a magnet for paranormal energy," Missouri looked around, "It's attracted a poltergeist—a nasty one—and it won't rest until Jenny and her babies are dead."

"You said there was more than one spirit?" Sam questioned her.

"There is," she nodded and moved back to the closet, "I just can't quite make out the second one."

"Well one thing's for damn sure," Dean said stuffing his EMF detector back into his pocket, "Nobody's dying in this house ever again."

"So," Melody began stepping out of Sam's hold, "Whatever is here…how do we stop it?"

* * *

"What is all this stuff anyways?" Dean asked Missouri as he started mixing things together. Melody sat down in the chair next to him, handing him different ingredients.

The psychic set down a few more bottles and answered him, "Angelica root, van van oil, crossroad dirt…a few other odds and ends."

"What are we supposed to do with it?"

"We're gonna put them inside the walls," she said sitting down across from them, "in the north, south, east, west corners, on each floor of the house."

"Yeah, punching holes in the drywall—Jenny's gonna love that," Dean mumbled as he mixed together more of the ingredients.

"She'll live," Missouri deadpanned.

"And this will destroy the spirits?" Sam asked leaning on one of the chairs surrounding the table.

Missouri nodded at him, "It should. It should purify the house completely," she paused and looked between the Winchesters, "We'll each take a floor—Melody you'll watch the entrance—but we have to work fast. Once the spirits realize what we're up to, things are gonna get bad."

* * *

Missouri sent Jenny and her children away and then instructed the Winchesters on what they should do. She decided to go down in the basement, Sam went to the second floor and Dean took the first floor. Melody was given a bottle of salt and had one of her iron knives stuffed into her pocket. There was an eerie silence that fell over the home. Melody looked around and heard soft tapping coming from all around the house, everyone was about to stuff the bags into the walls.

From her spot by the entrance she could see Dean in the kitchen. He moved aside a blender and began tapping on the wall by the fridge. Shrugging, he slammed the business end of his hatchet into the wall. Once he made a decent sized hole he began to place the bag in but stopped when he heard Melody shout,

"Dean behind you!" He turned around and quickly ducked down avoiding the large kitchen knife that was hurdling toward him. Running up to him Melody did a quick check over on him making sure he wasn't hurt. Before she could be completely sure he was alright, Dean pushed her aside and reached out for the table. Flipping it around he pulled Melody's head to his chest, covering her with his arms, as five other knives stuck themselves into the wood of the table.

Letting out a shaking breath Dean gripped her shoulders, "You okay?"

But before she could answer they both heard a loud thump come from upstairs. "Oh my god Sammy," Melody gasped jumping up and bounding up the stairs with Dean close behind her.

Running down the hall they looked in each room and finally found their brother in the last room at the end of the hallway. "Sam!" Dean yelled running over to him. The youngest Winchester was on his back, power cord wrapped around his neck gripping tighter and tighter. He gasped and groaned as he felt his sibling's fingers take hold of the cord.

"Sam!" Melody yelled trying and using all her strength to pull off the cord. Dean grunted and couldn't move the cord an inch eventually having to pull out his fingers as it began to cut off his circulation. Melody screamed out in frustration as she too fell back and went back to her brother. And she watched in horror as he slowly closed his eyes and stopped moving. "No! Sammy!" she screamed again shaking her brother.

Falling back Dean felt his hand touch the small bag and, thinking quickly he took the bag and stuffed it into the hole Sam had made. As soon as the bag was in the wall thunder crashed and a bright piercing light shone throughout the room. Dean covered his eyes while Melody buried her head against Sam's chest.

The light quickly faded and Melody leaned up relieved when she heard Sam wheezing and gasping. Dean moved over to him and with help from his sister pulled the cord off of their little brother's neck. Melody fought fearful tears as Dean and her pulled Sam toward them and squeezed him tightly, Sam still gasping and wheezing as he weakly returned the hug.

* * *

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	6. Mom?

**Sorry if it's on the short side buut I am working on the finishing touches of the next chapter so that should be up in a few hours if I don't get distracted...I'll try not to. Oh! And I finally got caught up and finished season 8...for realsies what was that ending? Ugh i need season 9 now! Ok I'm done for now, I'll just go bury myself in my story some more.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

Dean tossed a kitchen knife into a drawer and looked around at the group. Missouri and Melody were leaning against the upturned table while Sam was standing by the far counter. "Are you sure this is over?" Sam asked looking around at everyone.

"I'm sure," Missouri answered him, "Why? Why do you ask?"

"No, never mind," he sighed, "it's nothing I guess."

Melody looked at Dean, giving him a concerned stare and he could only shrug lightly at her. That's when they all heard the front door open, "We're home," Jenny called as she walked into the kitchen and stopped when she saw the mess, "What—what happened?"

"Hi, sorry. Um…we'll—we'll pay for all of this." Sam tried to give her a kind smile.

Glancing at Dean, Melody mouthed at him, "We will?"

"Don't you worry," Missouri said kindly, "Dean's gonna clean up this mess." Melody had to chew her lip to keep from laughing at her brother's dumb founded look. Turning around to face him, the psychic waved her hands at him, "Well what are you waiting for boy, get the mop," as Dean walked away she snapped at him, "And don't cuss at me."

Dean clenched his jaw and walked away, not before he heard snickering coming from his siblings.

* * *

Melody yawned and leaned over the front seat. "So…why are we here still?" she asked drumming her fingers against the leather.

"I don't know," Sam shook his head slowly, "I-I just…I still have a bad feeling."

Sighing Melody leaned back and started pulling her hair up into a high set, messy pony tail. Dean shrugged his shoulders, "Why? Missouri did her whole…Zelda Rubenstein thing. The house should be clean. This should be over."

"Yeah, probably," Sam gave in, "But I just want to make sure. That's all."

Dean sighed and rested his head against the top of the seat, "Yeah well, problem is I could be sleeping in a bed right now."

Sam nearly rolled his eyes but stopped when he glanced up and saw Jenny in her window, screaming and pounding against the glass. "Dean!" he said getting out of the car, "Melody!"

They all broke out into full sprints towards the home, "You two grab the kids, I'll get Jenny!" Dean ordered them.

Bounding up the stairs Melody and Sam went straight for little Jessie's room. Sam picked him up as the little boy cried for his mother. "Go I've got him!" Sam said and Melody was already half way out of the door.

Running into Sari's room she stopped just outside of the door. There was a flaming figure standing just at the end of the girl's bed. It turned and faced Melody who froze for a moment, "Help me! Please!" Sari cried.

Steeling herself Melody skirted into the room and reached out her arms for the little girl, "Come here sweetie. Don't look," Melody said picking her up and burying Sari's head into her shoulder.

They moved down the stairs quickly, Sari's tears staining her shirt. Sam came to a stop and put Jessie down, "Mel, I need you to take them outside."

"What? No!" Melody shook her head and put Sari down next to Jessie, "Sari sweetheart, take your brother outside…don't look back."

Sari's eyes went wide as she stared at both of them with pure terror written on her face. Melody looked back, ready to give Sam a good scolding but froze when she saw him get dragged off down the hall by his feet. Before she could shout at the kids to run, she felt a force grab her legs, falling down on her back she was pulled down the hall by her feet, Sari's terrified screams echoing behind them.

* * *

Dean felt his heart pound in his chest as he waited anxiously for his brother and sister to come out of the house. Instead he only saw the kids running out. Jenny quickly scooped up her youngest and Dean kneeled down in front of the little girl,

"Sari, where are Sam and Melody?"

"They're inside," she told him shaking, "Something got them."

Dean felt his heart drop into his stomach. Looking up at the house he saw the door slam itself shut. Cursing he sprinted over to the Impala and messily popped open the trunk grabbing a shotgun and salt rounds and his hatchet.

He didn't even notice the group of neighbors that had gathered as he sprinted back up to the door, and started to kick and pound on it violently.

* * *

Melody groaned in pain as she was thrust up against the wall, arms at her sides. "Melody! No!" Sam stood and made to run up to her but was thrown across the kitchen into the counters.

"Sam!" Melody cried struggling against the force that held her up. With a yelp of surprise she felt herself drop to the ground. She stood and ran over to her brother, "Come on! We have t—ah!"

She screamed as they were flung across the room up against another wall. Melody fought and fought, trying to move an inch but she could not budge. That's when they saw the flaming figure again. It moved, slowly and deliberately towards them. The heat rising higher and higher the closer it got. "Sam!" they felt a wave of relief wash over them when they heard Dean, "Melody!"

Dean saw his younger siblings against the wall and ran up to them, "Sam?! Mels?!" He felt the heat and glanced over to see the flaming spirit just a few feet away from him. Raising his sawed-off shotgun he put his finger on the trigger.

"No, don'!" Sam cried, "Don't!"

"What?!" Melody screamed at him.

"Why not?" Dean yelled back, keeping his gun aimed at the spirit.

"B-because I know who it is," Sam said voice calming down, "I can see her now."

Melody felt herself fall to the ground and let out a sigh of relief. She pulled out her own gun and pointed it at the spirit, ready to shoot should it try anything. The spirit stopped walking and slowly, ever so slowly the flames turned into light blonde hair. The arms took shape, and a white dressing gown could be seen behind the orange light. Then the flames puffed out and standing in their place was…

"Mom?" Dean couldn't believe his eyes. His gun arm trembled and he slowly lowered it to the ground.

Melody also equally as shocked felt her knees weaken as she too lowered her own weapon. The spirit-the woman…their mother slowly smiled at her children. "Dean," she said softly walking up to him and stared at him for a moment. Then she walked around to his sister and reached out her hand, "Melody," she smiled at her daughter and touched the tips of her fingers to the girl's face.

Trembling, Melody felt a whimper work its way up her throat. "Hi…hi mom," she managed to say and felt hot tears roll down her cheeks.

Their mother grinned at her and then moved over to Sam who was still pressed to the wall, "Sam," she smiled at him and Sam could only let out a small, breathy laugh and say,

"Hi," weakly to her as he felt himself begin to weep softly.

Then he watched his mother's face grow serious and…apologetic, "I'm sorry."

"For…for what?" Sam asked her, tears ceasing to fall for a moment.

Mom didn't answer only stared at him for a bit longer. Then she turned and faced the opposite direction. Looking up towards the ceiling she demanded, "You get out of my house. And let go of my son."

There was a screeching, scraping noise and then Melody watched in silent fear as their mother was consumed in flames again. The fire rose and rose toward the ceiling, puffing out and disappearing once it reached the top. Sam gasped as he felt the hold on him vanish and looked up at the ceiling.

"Mom?" Dean tried calling for her but received no answer.

Taking a few shaking steps Sam stood behind his sister and brother, "_Now_ it's over."

* * *

Melody sat next to Sam as they waited on the steps of the house. He had an arm around her and she was fiddling with her necklace. "I just…I never thought I'd see her…not like that."

Sam glanced over at her. She had taken her hair out letting it fall all across her shoulders. "You look like her," he said gently.

Melody sniffled, "You think so?"

"Yeah…except for that," he poked her chin and then his, "That is from dad."

She gave him a small, weak smile that didn't quite reach her eyes then stood up, "I'm uh…I'm going to go help Dean with the car."

Sam watched her walk away. She really did look a lot like their mother. He hoped that would somehow cheer her up, or make her feel a little better. "Well," Missouri said coming out of the house and sitting down next to him, "there are no spirits in there anymore, this time for sure."

"Not even my mom?" he asked with a trembling voice.

Missouri gave him a sympathetic look, "No."

Sam nodded in acceptance then looked over at her, "What happened?"

"Your mom's spirit and the poltergeists' energy." she began to explain, "They canceled each other out. Your mom destroyed herself going after the thing."

"Why would she do something like that?" he held back another fit of tears.

"Well, to protect her children of course," Missouri answered him plainly. He didn't seem to accept the answer and clenched his jaw, looking down at his shoes. Missouri started to reach out a hand in comfort but decided not to and sighed; placing her hands back into her lap she tried talking to him again, "Sam, I'm sorry."

"For what?" he questioned her.

The psychic took in a deep breath, "You sensed it was here, didn't you? Even when I couldn't."

"What…" he shook his head and struggled to ask but forced himself to, "What's happening to me?"

"I know I should have all the answers, but…I don't know," she said to him a little too quickly.

Opening his mouth to find out more he started to ask her another question but was interrupted by Dean's voice, "Sam, you ready?"

Nodding at him he stood and went to join his siblings by the car. "Don't you be strangers," Missouri called to them, "And be good to your sister…the _both_ of you."

Melody had to smile at that one. "We will," Dean said to her.

"See you around."

Giving her and Jenny one last goodbye wave Melody opened the back door and got in along with her brothers who settled down in the front. Dean turned the engine over, and giving the house one last glance pulled off down the street.

* * *

Missouri walked the whole way home, she needed the air anyways. Opening her door she sighed and set her bag down onto her kitchen table. "That boy," she began, "he has such powerful abilities," she set down her keys and walked into her living room,

"Why he couldn't sense his own father, I have no idea."

John Winchester held his face in his hands and rubbed his tired eyes. God, he was tired. But he needed to keep going. He couldn't stop…he could never stop. Looking over at Missouri he clasped his hands in front of his face, resting his elbows on his knees, "Mary's spirit…do you really think she saved them?"

Missouri didn't really have to think it over; she knew that it was the truth. "I do," she stated and watched the elder Winchester fight back tears. He looked down and started playing with a silver band on his finger. Exasperated Missouri added, "John Winchester, I could just slap you. Why don't you go talk to your children?"

Still staring at his ring John nearly whispered, "God, I want to. You have no idea how much I want to see them. But I can't. Not yet," he looked over at Missouri and continued, "Not until I know the truth."

* * *

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	7. Meg Masters

**Whew I finished it. Actually i have a whole other half of this chapter but broke it up into two parts or else it would have been a bit too long. And now that the second half is done I'm working on the brand new chapter and let me tell you...it features one of my favorite ghost hunting teams ever. Ghostfacers!**

**Haha ok i'll stop talking now, enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_May 28, 2006_

_I swear sometimes I really just want to kill my brothers. The past month has just been insane. We've had a few cases. There was the abandoned asylum in Illinois, talk about creepy…bleh I hate asylums. Then Dean finds this scary ass scarecrow that we had to kill. That thing was just plain ugly. Then Dean got electrocuted and we spent some time with a healer and his crazy wife. After that Dean got a call from his ex um…Cassie was her name and we spent about a week with her. She was nice; I forgot how much I liked her._

_Then Sam had another nightmare and he dragged us to Michigan. Let me tell you the kid we talked with…Max Miller…I almost killed him myself. I mean, he pointed a gun at Dean, at my big brother! I'm the only one who is allowed to threaten him. Ugh but Sam stopped him before he could kill Dean, thank God. Sam thinks that there's something else going on. That there's another reason why whatever killed mom killed her…and why he's getting the freaky abilities. I mean I watched him move a freaking dresser! I feel bad for the mother though…Max killed himself in front of her. I wish I'd known what to say to her but…yeah._

_ After that we ended up in Minnesota. Sam and I were taken…that was fun. We were in this basement in these iron cages. God it was…horrible. And get this it wasn't monsters or demons…it was just people. Crazy, back woods people. Ugh I hate thinking about it. They almost killed Dean but we got them back…damn psychos._

_Well then Sam and Dean had another fight about dad of course and he left for a few days but…he came back eventually. But still I just-ugh they are so stubborn sometimes. I mean Sam just won't realize that it isn't "blind faith" me and Dean are following. It's the fact that we want to find dad and know that he's alive and if he wants us to go on these hunting trips for him then so be it._

_Anyways the boys just left the motel to investigate this murder. A girl was killed in her apartment but there was no sign of entry and her alarm system never went off. Sounds just like our kind of thing._

* * *

The sound of a key turning made Melody jump. She had been so engrossed with her writing she forgot that her brothers weren't there. They walked in, dressed in their electrician costumes and threw down their bags.

"What'd you find?" she asked them closing her journal and leaning back in her seat at the small table in the room.

"Well," Dean began sitting on the edge of a bed, "We went to her place. There was no sign of forced entry. No signs of a struggle. Her alarm system never went off. The only thing that was misplaced was the girl."

Melody felt her brow raise up, "Misplaced? Like…"

"In pieces across the floor." Sam added moving around to the bathroom.

Dean then stood and pulled out his cell phone. Showing her the screen he asked, "Ever seen anything like that before?"

Melody shook her head, "No but…I feel like I have."

"Yeah that's what I said," Dean threw his phone onto his bed and pulled out his bag. Reaching in he pulled out some clothes, "Sammy! Get dressed we're hitting the bar tonight."

Sam poked his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush sticking out of his mouth, "Which one?"

Stretching Melody sighed, "I'm assuming the one that girl worked at."

"Yup," Dean said walking past her and ruffling her hair, "Good detective work squirt."

* * *

Dean led his sister into the bar and held the door open for her. She unzipped her jacket and fixed the hem of the shirt she was wearing. It was a hand-me-down from Dean. A worn, black Metallica concert shirt he had probably stolen. She didn't much care how he got it, just cared that it had their favorite band on it.

"Buy me a drink sailor?" she grinned up at him sarcastically. Dean led her to a table and scoffed,

"No," he glanced back and groaned. She was giving him her best 'puppy dog eyes' and he just could not say no to her when she looked at him like that. "Ugh…fine what do you want?"

"Vodka cranberry please," she smiled triumphantly at him.

"Just…sit here and wait for Sam I'll get you your girly drink." He rolled his eyes and headed towards the bar, picking out the cutest bartender working. He flirted and put on his charm as he got information from the bartender about their case. Smiling at her he glanced up and saw Sam walk in and join Melody at their table. He went to leave but stopped, "Oh can I get a vodka cranberry,"

The bartender gave him a look but made the drink anyways. "You know what? Make it a double," he said glancing back at his siblings, "It's for my sister…" he tried to cover up for the girly drink order.

Tipping the bartender he walked back to the table, setting the drink down for his sister who took it eagerly. "Thanks brother-bear," she said taking the drink and sipping from it.

Sam glanced up at Dean from their father's journal, "Well?"

"I talked to the bartender," he began, shifting in his seat slightly.

"You get anything?" Sam asked glancing over the article that had gotten them on to the case.

Melody scoffed and took a sip from her drink, "Yeah, besides her phone number?"

Dean scrunched his brow and gave them a hurt look, "Hey, I'm a professional. I'm offended that either of you would think that," both Sam and Melody watched him with tight grins on their faces. Dean's face broke out into a smile and he held up a napkin with a name and number scrawled across it, "Alright yeah I did."

Sighing Melody swirled the liquid around in her glass as she heard Sam say, "You mind thinking with your upstairs brain Dean?"

"Huh?" he asked looking up from the napkin, "There's nothing else to find out. I mean, Meredith worked here, she waited tables, and everyone here was her friend. Everybody said she was normal, she didn't do or say anything weird before she died…so…" he shrugged and went back to admiring the number.

"Find anything on the symbol?" Melody asked looking at Sam.

"Nope, nothing. Not in dad's journal or in the usual books," he said looking around the bar, "We'll just have to dig a little deeper I guess."

"Perfect," Melody said finishing up her drink. She set the glass down and said, "There was a first victim right?"

Sam nodded, "Right his name was…" he paused as he pulled out the article, "Ben Swardstrom. Last month he was found mutilated in his town house. Same deal, the door was locked, the alarm was on."

Melody leaned over to look at the article in Dean's hands. "So is there any connection between them?" Dean asked putting the clipping back on top of the open journal.

Sam shook his head, "Nothing I could tell at least not yet. Ben was a banker, Meredith was a waitress. They never met, never knew anyone in common. They were practically from different worlds."

"Awesome," Melody said twisting the empty glass in her hands, "So the only successful info we've gathered is the bartender's phone number."

Dean gave her a sarcastic grin but Sam's attention was focused on something else across the bar. Dean looked over his shoulder, "What?"

Sam didn't say a word but stood up and started to walk toward someone. "Sam?" Melody called after him but he ignored her and Dean. They watched as he walked up to a petite blonde and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and immediately broke into a smile recognizing Sam. Melody felt her eyebrows shoot up when the girl stood and gave him a warm hug.

"Uh…we're going over there right?" Melody asked Dean, already beginning to stand.

"Oh hell yes." He stood as well and let Melody lead as he kept his hand lightly placed on her shoulder. They walked up behind Sam and caught the tail end of their conversation.

"…Meg. I thought you were going to California." Sam seemed more than a little happy to see this girl.

"Oh, I did. I came, I saw, I conquered," Melody felt a small twinge of uneasiness about the girl. She seemed almost too…something. Dean and Mel stood behind Sam quietly as they continued their conversation, "Oh and I met what's his name-something Michael Murray-at a bar."

"Who?" Sam asked after he had to try and place the name.

Meg shrugged, "It doesn't matter. Anyway the whole scene got old, so I'm living here for a while."

Dean cleared his throat from behind his brother, but Sam either didn't hear him or he ignored him. "You're from Chicago?" Sam asked her.

"No, Massachusetts-Andover," she paused and smiled up at him, "Gosh Sam. What are the odds we'd run into each other?"

Sam smiled, "Yeah I know. I thought I'd never see you again."

"Well I'm glad you were wrong." Meg said sweetly. Melody felt her eyes roll and she crossed her arms. Dean cleared his throat only louder this time.

Meg looked over at Dean and crossed her arms, "Dude, cover your mouth."

Melody clenched her jaw as Sam finally introduced his siblings. "Sorry Meg this is um-this is my brother Dean and my sister, Melody."

Meg's eyes widened slightly, "Oh so this is Dean and Melody."

"Yeah," Dean grinned at her, "So you've heard of us?"

"Oh yeah I've heard of you," she said looking at Dean, "Nice how you treat your brother like luggage."

"Whoa…what?" Melody said looking between Sam and Dean then back to Meg.

"Sorry?" Dean said shortly after her.

Meg's voice sounded like she was holding back her anger, "Why don't you let him do what he wants to do? Stop dragging him over God's green earth."

"Meg," Sam said holding up a hand, "It's alright."

"Now hold on just a minute…" Melody said clenching her fists.

Dean grabbed her arm, "Well this has been awkward. We're gonna go get drinks now."

"No we are not Dean! Dean…" Melody protested as Dean nearly dragged her toward the bar. When they reached the bar Dean ordered two shots of whiskey,

"Want one?" he asked passing a glass toward her.

Melody threw back the whiskey and watched Sam and Meg, "Great now he has her number. Can I go shoot her out now?"

Dean smiled at her, "Cool your jets. I'm sure you can get to her later if you really want to."

Melody nodded and watched Sam say goodbye to Meg. He walked over to them and all three left the bar soon after. "So who the hell was that girl anyways?" Dean asked, looking over Melody's head to Sam.

"I don't really know. I only met her once," Sam shrugged, "But meeting up with her again? I don't know man it's weird."

"What was she saying-I treat you like luggage? Were you bitching about me to some chick?"

"Yeah what the hell was that all about?" Melody asked crossing her arms over her stomach.

Sam sighed, "Look I'm sorry Dean. It was when we had that huge fight when I was in that bus stop in Indiana. Look it's not important…"

"Well is there any truth to what she's saying? Am I keeping you against your will Sam?" Dean asked him. Melody winced, she could feel the tension building between the two.

"No, of course not," Sam argued back, "Now, would you listen?"

"What?" Dean asked frustrated with his brother. All three stopped, Dean standing in front of his two younger family members.

"I think there's something strange going on here Dean. I mean Mel you feel it too right?" he asked her.

Melody shrugged, "I was getting some weird vibes from tinker bell in there."

Dean nodded at her, "Yeah tell me about it, she wasn't even that into me." He said gesturing toward the bar.

"I think he means our kind of strange Dean." Melody said hugging her jacket tighter against her body.

Sam agreed, "Exactly, like a lead."

"Why do you say that?" Dean questioned them.

"I met Meg weeks ago literally on the side of the road," Sam explained, "And now I run into her in some random Chicago bar-the same bar where a waitress was slaughtered by something supernatural. You don't think that's weird?"

Dean shrugged, "I don't know random coincidence it happens."

Melody rolled her eyes, "Yeah Dean it happens but not to us."

"I could be wrong," Sam added, "I'm just saying there's something about this girl that I can't quite put my finger on."

"But I bet you'd like to," Dean joked.

"Ew, Dean I don't want to hear that." Melody said grimacing.

He ignored her and continued his teasing, "Maybe you got a thing for her, huh? Maybe you're thinking a little too much with your upstairs brain, huh?"

Sam smiled despite his brother's bad jokes, "Do me a favor. Check and see if there's a Meg Masters from Andover, Massachusetts. And see if you can't dig anything up on that symbol."

"What are you gonna do?" Melody asked him as she moved to stand beside Dean.

"I'm gonna watch Meg."

Dean chuckled, "Yeah you are." Melody face-palmed and couldn't resist laughing as well.

"I just want to see what's what you know, better safe than sorry," Sam defended himself.

"All right you little pervert, have fun," Dean put an arm around Melody's shoulders, "Come on sis, Sammy here needs some alone time." He wagged his eyebrows playfully.

"Okay someone is having way too much fun with this." Melody laughed as she walked across the street with Dean and waved back to Sam as he stood on the street corner.

* * *

Dean and Melody walked back to the motel without incident. Once they were inside Dean whipped out Sam's laptop and began his search for "Meg Masters". Melody pulled out her laptop and started her own research on the strange symbol.

"You got anything?" Melody asked looking up from her computer screen.

Dean grinned, "Yup, got her high school picture and everything, she's clean," he picked up his phone, "What about you? Got anything on that symbol?"

Melody rubbed her temples, "Hardly. I mean I'm guessing it's ancient but I can't find anything on here that pre-dates Christ. Maybe one of dad's friends knows what that is."

He nodded and began to dial out a number, "I'll call Caleb, maybe he knows."

She stood then, stretching her long legs and went to the small kitchenette which they had stocked up earlier that day. Melody bent down and opened the fridge, pulled out a bottle of water and stood back up as she heard Dean talk quickly into his phone. Returning to her seat across from her brother Melody watched him say a quick goodbye to Caleb.

"Well…" he sighed and opened his phone again, "Might as well call Sammy, see how the little guy's doing."

Melody scoffed, "You are such a child."

"Yeah, yeah," he grinned and put the phone on speaker setting it down on the table between them.

The line rang a few times until it was picked up, _"Hey," _Sam's voice came through to them.

"Let me guess," Dean began, "you're lurking outside that poor girl's apartment, aren't you?"

Sam scoffed, _"No…yes."_

Melody laughed while Dean continued teasing him, "You've got a funny way of showing your affection."

_"You find anything on her or what?" _Sam asked him growing impatient.

"Sorry Sammy," Melody said standing up to look at Dean's laptop, "she checks out. There's a Meg Masters in the Andover phone book. Even managed to pull up her high-school photo."

Dean picked up the phone and held it up to his lips, "Now look, why don't you go knock on her door and uh…invite her to a poetry reading or whatever it is you do, huh?"

Melody laughed again and lightly slapped Dean's shoulder mouthing, "Be nice," to him as Sam asked,

_"What about the symbol? Any luck?"_

"Yeah that we did have some luck with," Dean said pulling over his own journal, "It's uh…Zoroastrian. Very, very old-school, like two-thousand years before Christ. It's a sigil for a Daeva."

_"What's a Daeva?"_

"It translates to 'demon of darkness'—Zoroastrian demons, and they're savage, animalistic, nasty attitudes—kind of like demonic pit bulls." Dean explained to them letting Melody glance over his notes.

_"How'd you figure that out?"_

"Oh come on moose," Melody said handing Dean his journal back, "Give me some credit. I at least knew it predated Christ."

"Yeah come on, you don't have a corner on paper chasing around here," Dean bragged into the phone.

_"Oh really? Name the last book either of you read."_

Melody and Dean both nodded. He had a point. Dean relented, "All right. I called dad's friend Caleb. He told me. Anyway here's the thing. These daevas, they have to be summoned…conjured."

_"So someone's controlling it?"_

"Yeah that's what I'm saying," Dean nodded watching his sister sit down across from him again, "And uh…from what I gather, it's pretty risky business too. These suckers tend to bite the hand that feeds them…and the arms and the torsos."

"Dean," Melody complained kicking him lightly in the shin.

_"Well…what do they look like?"_

"Well nobody knows. Nobody's seen them for a couple of millennia. I mean, summoning a demon that ancient, someone really knows their stuff."

"You thinkin we got ourselves a major player?" Melody asked leaning back in her seat.

"Yup," Dean answered her and then felt a teasing grin cross his features, "Now why don't you go give that girl a private strip-o-gram?"

"Oh…Dean," Melody complained fighting back a smile of her own.

_"Bite me," _Sam deadpanned.

"Well no—bite her. Don't leave teeth marks though just enough—" he heard the line go dead, "Sam? Are you—" he sighed and closed his phone looking up he saw his sister staring at him.

"You are…the worst big brother ever," she said laughing at him.

Dean smiled at her, "Hey I'm just trying to help the kid out."

* * *

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	8. Daddy?

**Whew...lots and lots of writing being planned out this week. I am taking a break for about a week on this story and focusing on my other stories which need attention. Anyways enjoy this second half and half a wonderful week! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

Melody sighed and held her cell phone against her ear. The line rang once and was quickly picked up by a voicemail…one she had become all too familiar with. She chewed her thumbnail and waited impatiently for the tone.

_"This is John Winchester, if this is an emergency, call my son Dean—715-555-1789."_

"Dad?" Melody heard her voice crack and cleared her throat before continuing, "Uh…hi…um sorry I just—we don't really have a lot of time and as much as I want to leave you a ten minute, mushy message I'll get down to the point," she laughed nervously and steeled herself before continuing, "We have a pretty sticky situation here. There's this girl-Meg-who is summoning a daeva. You know super ancient, hardly anybody brings them out unless there's a major player around? Well it looks like Meg ordered the daeva to kill a few people here in Chicago and dad…"

Reaching up she gripped her mother's ring, "Dad the people who have been killed are all from Lawrence. That is _not_ a coincidence so…um Dean and I-and Sam-we shouldn't be doing this by ourselves. Especially if this is a big lead on the thing that killed mom. So uh come to this warehouse—1435 West Erie," she glanced back over her shoulder and saw Sam coming into their hotel room toting an oversized bag around his shoulder. Pressing the phone closer to her mouth she sighed, "Daddy-if by some miracle you get this-get to Chicago as soon as you can."

"You get his voicemail?" Sam asked her as he set down his bag on the bed.

Melody stuffed her cell back into her pocket, "Yeah, just the voicemail."

Dean came out of the bathroom, and scoffed at the size of the bag that was nearly spilling over the edge of the bed.

Standing up Melody looked down at the duffel, "What'd you get?"

Rolling out his shoulder Sam answered, "Pretty much ransacked that trunk—holy water, every weapon that I could think of. Exorcism rituals from about a half-dozen religions," Dean reached in and started pulling things out as Sam continued, "I'm not sure what to expect, so I guess we should just expect everything huh?"

Dean and Melody nodded in understanding and reached in the bag pulling out two sawed off shotguns. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Melody began loading up her weapon and moved on to her pistol.

"It's a big night." Dean commented glancing at his siblings.

"Yeah," Melody agreed slamming a fresh magazine into her gun, "You two nervous?"

Shaking his head the oldest Winchester replied, "No. No, are you?"

"No," Sam answered and saw his sister shake her head, "no, way." There was an awkward pause as the Winchesters pulled out more weapons and started checking them over. Sam placed his gun down and looked up at his siblings, "God, could you imagine if we actually found that damn thing, that demon?"

"Come on Sam, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Dean chuckled half-heartedly at him.

"I know." He continued, "I'm just saying…what if we did? What if this whole thing was over tonight?" Melody watched her brothers. Dean kept his eyes down cast, a cold, worried look crossing his features. Sam however looked like he was in a dream, "Man, I'd sleep for a month, go back to school, just be a person again."

Dean sucked in his lip and glanced at his sister. She wasn't looking at either of them now, just fiddling with her favorite hunting knife. He returned his attention to Sam, "You want to go back to school?"

"Yeah, once we're done hunting this thing," Sam answered and only got a quiet 'huh' from his brother in response. "Why?" he questioned, "Is there something wrong with that?"

Picking up a knife holster Dean shook his head, "No, no it's great. Good for you."

Sam looked over at his sister, "Melody?"

She sighed, "Sam I want you to be happy, and if school is what does it then fine."

"Well," Sam wasn't sure what to think, "What are you guys gonna do when it's all over?"

"It's never gonna be over." Dean answered quickly and Melody only chewed her lip, "There's always gonna be others. There will always be something else to hunt."

"But there's got to be something that you want for yourself—"

"Yeah I don't want you to leave the second this is over," Dean snapped at him. He almost threw down his weapons and walked over to lean against the large dresser.

"Dude," Sam shook his head, "What's your problem?"

After a half second Dean sighed and looked over his shoulder at his brother and sister, "Why do you think I drag you everywhere, huh? Why do you think I do everything in my power to make sure Mels is happy? Why do you think I decided to listen to her and let her drag me to Standford to get you? Or why I even agreed?"

"Cause dad was in trouble," Sam answered him, confused, "Cause you wanted to find the thing that killed mom."

"Yes, that," Dean nearly shouted and leaned against the dresser again, "But it's more than that man."

Melody was curious and slowly stood from the bed, "D-Dean?"

He let out a sharp breath and faced them, "You two, me and dad—I want us to be together again. I…I want us to be a family again."

"Dean," Sam said gently, "We _are_ a family. I'd do anything for you."

Stepping up to her oldest brother Melody touched his arm, "Same for me you big idiot."

Sam sighed, "But…things will never be the way they were before."

Dean felt his sister's grip tighten. She obviously didn't like the sound of that. After a brief pause Dean tried to put on a grin but it failed and turned into a deep frown, "They could be."

"I don't want them to be." Sam looked like he nearly choked on the words. Melody had to swallow a lump that had formed in her throat as he continued, "I'm not gonna live this life forever. Guys…when this is all over, you're gonna have to let me go my own way."

* * *

Melody gripped the bars tightly as she and her brothers pulled themselves up enough so they could see into the near empty room at the top floor. Sam had led the way and as the awkward, tense silence was slowly forgotten they got down to business.

Peering through the bars they could see Meg standing before a makeshift altar. She was staring down at a cup or bowl of something, chanting to herself quietly. Melody felt a light sheen of nervous sweat begin to cover her back.

Glancing over at his brother, Dean gave him the signal and Sam began to pull himself up into the large, near empty room. Turning around, the youngest Winchester helped his sister up and they both pulled out their guns while Dean quietly joined them.

With her gun trained on Meg's back, Melody gently pushed her brothers back following after them silently. They all skirted around towards the end of the room ducking down behind several stacked boxes. Dean set down his duffle and pulled out a sawed off shotgun handing it to Sam who handed off his pistol to the oldest. Melody, kneeling behind Sam, steadied her arms and took aim at the back of Meg's head.

"Guys," Meg's voice echoed across the room to them as she stopped her silent chanting, "Hiding is a little bit childish, don't you think?"

The Winchesters exchanged surprised glanced and Dean whispered at them harshly, "That didn't work out like I'd planned."

Slowly Meg turned around, "Why don't you come out?"

Melody was the first to stand up, soon followed by her brothers and all three gradually moved forward with their guns still trained on Meg. The girl walked up to them with a mocking smile on her face, "Sam I have to say this puts a real crimp in our relationship."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Sam clipped at her while Dean cleared his throat drawing her attention,

"So, where's your little daeva friend?"

"Around," Meg grinned at him wickedly, "And that shotgun's not gonna do much good."

"Don't you worry sweetpea," Melody sneered at Meg, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "The guns aren't for the demon."

"So, who is it Meg?" Sam asked, "Who's coming? Who are you waiting for?"

Meg flickered her eyes between the siblings and then rested them on Sam, "You."

For a moment Melody thought Meg was being facetious or just plain obnoxious. People who conjured up demons were usually like that. But all of that left her thoughts when she heard a soft whisper and then saw her youngest brother get thrown across the room by a milky shadow on the walls.

"Sam!" She cried and went after him only to be thrown back against a pillar. Sliding down the concrete slab she felt claws dig into her calf and screamed out in pain before she felt someone back hand her, knocking her out cold.

"Melod—" Dean started to yell running over to his little sister. He felt the shadow before he saw it creep up the wall and slash him across the face, throwing him back into a pile of crates.

Sam could only watch in horror as his older siblings were beaten and knocked out. He struggled to stand but only felt a force grip his arms and pull them back behind him. Claws scratched at his cheek leaving deep marks and trails of blood. Before he could yell out he saw Meg's boots in front of him and then saw her pull back and kick him, sending him into the blackness.

* * *

Sam gasped and shot his eyes open. Trying to move he found his feet tied together and his wrists were held by a rope behind the pillar he was sitting up against. Meg was sitting a few feet in front of him on an upturned box with his sister next to her, gripping Melody's hair tightly, and grinning down at him mockingly. Sam fought against his restraints but only caused Meg to pull even harder on his sister's hair causing her to wince in pain, letting out a few "tsks" as Meg gently stroked Melody's hair again.

Melody clenched her fists and tried to move her wrists but they wouldn't budge, the ropes cutting deeper and deeper into her flesh

"Hey, Sam," looking over Sam saw his oldest brother in a similar position to him, "Don't take this the wrong way, but your girlfriend…is a bitch."

"Real charmer," Melody mumbled, blood dripping down her face from a cut that ran through the edge of her left brow.

Meg answered by pulling on Melody's golden tresses and Melody could only grumble in annoyance at her. "This," Sam said trying to pull the girls attention away from hurting his sister, "The whole thing, was a trap,"

_Monologue idiot; get her to start a monologue, _Melody thought glancing at Dean.

Sam continued, "Running into you at the bar, following you here, hearing what you had to say—it was all a setup, wasn't it?" Meg only chuckled at him. Sam ignored that and resumed talking, "And that the victims were from Lawrence."

"It doesn't mean anything." Meg answered playing with a lock of Melody's hair, "It was just to draw you in, that's all."

"You killed those two people for nothing," Sam growled at her.

The girl giggled cheekily at him, "Baby, I've killed a lot more for a lot less."

"Okay," Dean began from his place on the floor, "you trapped us. Good for you. It's miller time. Why don't you kill us already?"

"Yeah get it over with bitch, I ain't got all night," Melody grumbled.

Meg looked between Dean and Melody, "Not very quick on the uptake, are we?" she pulled even tighter on Melody's hair, "This trap isn't for you."

Sam was the first to connect the dots, "Dad…it's a trap for dad."

Meg grinned at Dean's shocked face but felt it begin to fall when she heard Melody's soft chuckles, "Oh…you are way dumber than you look."

Even Dean began to chuckle softly and gave her a chastising grin, "Sweetheart…if dad was in town-which he is not-he wouldn't walk into something like this. He's too good."

"He is pretty good, I'll give you that." Meg nodded slowly and stood from her seat pulling Melody with her. "But you see…" she stopped in front of Dean and threw Melody down violently. Sprawling across the floor Melody leaned up on her knees next to her oldest brother and watched Meg kneel down over his legs, "he has one weakness."

"What's that?" Dean asked her.

"You," she answered, "He lets his guard down around his kids-especially when his little girl is involved," she added glaring at Melody and continuing, "He lets his emotions cloud his judgment," she leaned in closer to Dean like she was telling him a secret but spoke loud enough so that all three Winchesters could hear her,

"I happen to know he _is_ in town, and he'll come and try to save you. And then the daevas will kill everybody—nice and slow…and messy."

"Well I got news for you," Dean growled at her, "It's gonna take a lot more than some…shadow to kill him."

"Oh the daevas are in the room, here. They're invisible. Their shadows are just the only part you can see."

"Why are you doing this Meg?" Sam asked her, drawing attention away from his siblings, "What kind of deal you got worked out here, huh…and with who?"

"I'm doing this for the same reasons you do what you do—loyalty, love." She snapped at him, "Like the love you had for mommy…and Jess."

"Go to hell," Sam growled at her but Meg only smiled,

"Baby, I'm already there." She got on her knees and crawled over to the youngest Winchester, "Come on Sam. There's no need to be nasty." Melody wanted to gag as Meg leaned up and seductively whispered into his ear, "I think we both know…how you really feel about me."

Melody glanced at Dean and quietly sat down next to him, beginning to snake her fingers up his sleeve to try and grab for the knife that was strapped to his forearm as Meg continued taunting their brother.

"You know," Meg grinned at him sitting down on top of his outstretched legs, "I saw you…watching me…changing in my apartment. It turned you on, didn't it?"

Melody actually gagged this time while Dean rolled his eyes, "Get a room you two."

"I didn't mind," Meg ignored him and spoke into Sam's ear, "I liked that you were watching me, come on Sammy, you and I can still have a little dirty fun."

"You want to have fun?" Sam grinned at her, "Go ahead then, I'm a little tied up right now."

Taking this as her chance Melody started grabbing for the knife with Dean trying to wiggle it out. She felt it drop into Dean's hands and he flicked it around, but a bit too loudly. Meg, looking up from Sam's neck stared over at the two. She stood up and walked over behind them, kneeling down she pulled the knife out of Dean's hands, gave it a quick glance and then tossed it across the room.

Coming around the pillar she looked between Dean and Melody who could only give her tight grins. She turned back around and crawled to Sam again saying, "Now were you just trying to distract me while you brother and sister cut free?"

"No," Sam shook his head while she sat in his lap again, "It was because I have a knife of my own." The sound of ropes snapping startled Meg and before she could jump back Sam grabbed her arms and head butted her, sending her flying back to land on her back.

"Sam," Dean ordered as his brother rubbed his throbbing head, "get the altar." He nodded in understanding and got up on shaky legs. Running over he grunted and yelled as he threw the table, sending its contents flying across the room.

Meg watched with wide, fearful eyes, and then heard the screeching sounds of the daevas. Melody felt a small ounce of satisfaction as she looked on. Meg was grabbed by her ankles and thrown out of the window, screaming the whole way down.

Sam ran over, picking up his discarded knife and began cutting his siblings free. With help from her brothers Melody stood on wobbly legs and quickly hugged Sam. "Please don't date girls you meet on the side of the road anymore."

"Yeah…never again," he gave a breathy laugh as they walked over to the window and looked down. Meg was lying in the street, blood pooling around her and shattered glass littering both her body and the road. Sam sighed, "Guess the daeva's didn't like being bossed around."

"No, guess not." Dean said reaching out to pat his sister's shoulder. "Hey Sam," he said after a while, "next time you want to get laid. How about not picking a girl who's buckets of crazy, huh?"

Sam had to fight an oncoming eye roll. He hated it when Dean and Melody acted the exact same and teased him about the same thing. Of course they practically were the same person…only Melody didn't have quite as bad a temper as the oldest Winchester. Glancing down at Meg one last time, the siblings turned around satisfied that she was dead and gone.

* * *

"Why don't you just leave that stuff in the car?" Dean asked his brother as he led his siblings back to their room. Pulling out the key to the door he heard Sam reply,

"I said it before-and I'll say it again-better safe than sorry."

"He's right you know," Melody added as they walked into the dark room. Dean was about to throw back a sarcastic comment but stopped when he saw a figure standing at the window.

"Hey!" Dean shouted threateningly while Sam quickly pulled a gun from his bag and Melody stepped forward, knife in hand. Sam quickly turned on the light as the man looked around at them. Melody was the first to stop and lowered her weapon, then let it clatter to the floor.

"Daddy?" she gasped as their father looked at his children, tears welling in his eyes and a sad smile on his face.

"Hey squirt," John Winchester felt his throat close up and fought it, then nearly lost it when Melody practically ran across the room and threw her arms around his neck, crying silently. John held her to him, kissing the top of her head as he slowly released her and wiped a few tears from her cheeks.

Dean was next. He quickly closed the distance and wrapped his arms around John, fighting tears of his own. They held each other for a moment longer until John gently released him. Melody, seeking comfort, walked up to stand by Dean and gripped his hand firmly with her brother returning the gesture.

Sam came last. Only he didn't immediately hug John like his brother and sister. He simply walked up to him and nodded, "Dad."

"Hi, Sam," John greeted his youngest warmly.

"Dad, it was a trap," Dean explained and glanced down at Melody, "We didn't know. I-I'm sorry."

"It's all right. I thought it might have been."

"Were you there?" Melody asked him anxiously.

"Yeah," John nodded at them, "I got there just in time to see the girl take the swan dive. She was the bad guy right?"

"Yes sir," the siblings answered in perfect unison.

"Good." he smiled at his kids, "Well, it doesn't surprise me. It's tried to stop me before."

"The…demon has?" Sam asked nervously.

"It knows I'm close. It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell, actually kill it."

Melody wanted so badly to just cling to her father but of course like every Winchester, he wasn't all about showing his emotions. So she was stuck with her big brother, who was fine but she would have felt one-thousand times better holding her dad's hand.

"How?" Dean's voice brought her back to reality.

John grinned, "I'm working on that."

"Let us come with you," Sam said quickly, "We'll help."

"No Sam," their father shook his head, "not yet. Listen, try to understand. This demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don't want you caught in the crossfire. I don't want you hurt—"

"Dad, you don't have to worry about us," Sam insisted but their father would not hear it.

"Of course I do," John sighed glancing between his kids then resting his eyes on Sam, "I'm your father." The Winchester's paused. Dean gripped his sister's hand as they both chocked back more tears. "Listen Sammy," John began again gently, "the last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight."

He watched his son, swallowing the lump in his throat, "It's good to see you." John finally said, "It's been a long time."

"Too long," Sam agreed. They stared at each other for a brief moment and then Sam gave in, wrapping his arms around his father tightly.

John pulled back and smiled at his kids. He reached out a hand to take his daughter again and—

Melody felt her eyes nearly pop out of their sockets as she watched in horror. Her father was thrown across the room, back slamming into the kitchenettes counters. "Dad!" she screamed and ran over to grab him but felt something slam their fist into her stomach. Falling over face first onto the floor she fought against the pain and started crawling toward her father but let out a wail as she felt claws stick into her back and scrape down her skin.

Sam felt a fist collide with his jaw and fell over as he was thrown to the other side of the room. "No!" Dean shouted and then felt himself being flung against the back wall.

John cried out in agony as his hands were thrown up against the counters and felt his skin burn as claws scraped and scratched every inch of his body.

"Daddy no!" Melody cried as she tried to crawl over to him, getting up on her hands and knees but was thrown down onto the floor again, more claw marks being scratched into her back as she fought and fought.

Dean, trying to stand as well was hit repeatedly in the face by claws and fists alike while Sam was beaten back against the wall. The demons seemed to forget about the kids turning all their attention to John. Dean fell onto his back writhing in pain while Melody struggled and inched along the floor trying to get as close as she could to her father.

He needed a way out, Sam thought looking around. What-what-what? What was around, come on there was something there is _always something_. Weapons, he needed a weapon of some sort. But they were invisible and ancient…what would destroy these things or at least slow them down? Glancing down at his discarded weapons bag Sam saw it, sticking just outside of the zipper.

"Shut your eyes! These things are shadow demons! So let's light em up!" he shouted indistinctly as he reached for the flare, popping it out and lighting it, throwing it to the floor. Almost immediately the demons screeched and flew off. Sam and Dean covered their eyes while Melody squinted against the piecing light looking for her father.

They were all coughing and choking on the smoke that filled the room, searching blindly for each other. Sam grabbed his bag while Dean quickly got up and reached his hands out, "Dad! Mels!"

Melody only had to crawl forward a foot before she felt her father's hands tighten on hers, "Over here!" John shouted as he pulled his daughter up feeling her throw his arm over her shoulder. Dean found them and took John's free arm throwing it over his shoulder as well,

"Come on!" he said grunting against the pain and pulling them through the blinding light. Coughing and wheezing Dean reached out blindly and felt the door handle, throwing open the door he and his sister followed by their younger brother all ran out of the building.

Moving quickly down the steps and towards the back alley they saw the Impala and their father's pick-up truck parked not too far away. "All right, come on." Sam said hastily opening the back door of the Impala, "We don't have much time. As soon as the flare's out, they'll be back."

"Wait, wait!" Dean said holding out a calming hand, "Sam, wait." The Winchesters panted and stared at Dean as he explained himself, "Dad, you can't come with us."

"What?" Melody nearly sobbed, wrapping her arm around her dad tighter.

"What are you talking about?" Sam begged his brother for an answer.

John panted and leaned his weight onto Melody who was holding him up without complaint, "You kids you're…you're beat to hell."

"We'll be all right," Dean insisted clutching his aching shoulder.

"Dean," Sam snapped, "We should stick together, those demons are—"

"Sam, listen to me!" Dean stopped him, raising his voice as much as he could through his weak state, "We almost got dad killed in there. Don't you understand? They're not gonna stop. They're gonna try again, they're gonna use us to get to him."

Melody looked down at her shoes and fought back a whimper of defeat as Dean continued, "I mean Meg was right. Dad's vulnerable when he's with us. He…he's stronger without us around."

"Dad," Sam turned to face John and then put a hand on his shoulder, "no. After everything, after all the time we spent looking for you, please. I've got to be a part of this fight."

John put his free hand on top of his son's, "Sammy, this fight is just starting, and we are all gonna have a part to play. For now, you've got to trust me, son. Okay? You've got to let me go."

Sam, defeated, clenched his jaw and fought the wave of tears that were sure to fall. He stared at his dad for a while and then accepted it, giving him one solid pat on the shoulder. John satisfied that Sam would be okay looked over at his oldest son who only nodded in understanding. Looking down at Melody, John felt his heart ache. She looked so much like his Mary, even had her spirit and drive. He remembered how she had fought against the demons, fought against the pain they inflicted just to get to him.

"Watch out for your brothers Melody," John's voice cracked as he kissed the top of her head gently.

Melody let out a whimper and nodded, afraid to say anything out loud she only whispered loud enough for him to hear her, "Love you dad."

Slowly, she released her hold of him and leaned against the side of the Impala as she and her siblings watched their father walk away. Sam reached out his hand and pulled Melody into his chest letting her cry silently into his shirt. Dean still holding his shoulder could only watch his brother and sister, not knowing what to do or say.

As if on cue, all three siblings looked up at their father as he stopped at his truck. Standing by the driver's side door he nodded once at them, "Be careful kids." Then he quickly got in the car without looking back.

"Come on," Dean said to them as John's truck came to life. Sniffling Melody let go of Sam and got into the back seat, bringing her knees up to her chest and taking her mother's ring in her fingers. Glancing up she watched her father drive away and scrunched up her face as another wave of tears threatened to fall. Burying her face into her knees she heard the engine turn over and felt the car begin to move as they left…none of the Winchesters speaking to each other, afraid they might make something worse if they did.

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	9. Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler

**Remember how i said I was going to take a break from this story for a while? Yeah...jk! I just...I cannot stop writing this story, I love it too much to even be away from it. Welp there's a little itty bitty surprise in this chapter, and an even bigger surprise in the next one. Ah! I can't wait! Alright i'll stop talking now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_June 7, 2006_

_So…we finally met up with dad about a week ago. It was bittersweet. I mean dad nearly died because of us and then we had to part ways because-and Dean is right about this-the demons will use us against dad and vice versa. I just…hate that I can't see him. And John Winchester has always been a horrible person when it comes to keeping tabs on his own damn cell phone so if we do call it's highly unlikely that he will answer._

_Dean said something last week in Chicago about how he wants us all to be a family again. Again? We never were a family to begin with. Don't get me wrong I love my brothers and my dad but really? A family is supposed to go out to movies with each other, have barbeques, make huge thanksgiving meals, fight with each other. Well…we do fight actually so I guess there's one thing in our hats._

_All I know is that no matter what happens, I will always stick with my brothers. If Sam wants to quit and go back to school then fine, I'll support him no matter what he wants. If Dean wants me to stay with him then fine, I'll stay. I honestly have no other skills except guns, knives, killing monsters and demons. I dropped out of high school and have no intention of going back so…yeah hunting. That's what I can do, oh that and winning bar bets. Knowing random trivia, being able to hold my liquor, and I'm a pretty good hustler…and a bit of a champ when it comes to poker. _

_Well we just crossed the state line, we're in Texas. Possibly one of my favorite states. Good people, good food…weather kind of sucks but hey if the food's good then I won't complain. We're heading towards Richardson on Interstate 35…Dean took me to Texas once. We went to the coast, took down some vengeful spirit at a hotel and then stayed by the gulf for a few days. It was fun; I'd never seen a beach before…wonder if we can go back…_

* * *

Melody shut her journal and stuffed it into her bag. Leaning back up she looked at her brothers. Dean was driving silently while Sam had fallen asleep with his mouth half way open. Grinning, Melody tapped Dean's shoulder and when he glanced back at her she held a finger to her lips and pointed at Sam.

Laughing quietly Dean searched the car until he found his weapon of choice. He pulled out a plastic spoon from a discarded cup and gently stuck the spoon into Sam's open mouth. Melody covered her mouth as she stifled a laugh and Dean quickly pulled out his phone snapping a quick picture.

Giggling Melody reached over and turned up the radio as loud as it could go and she and Dean began singing at the top of their lungs. Sam jerked awake, swatting at the spoon sticking out of his mouth. Dean pounded his hands on the steering wheel and Melody ruffled Sam's hair.

Sighing, Sam tossed the spoon back at his sister and reached down to turn the music to a lower volume, "Ha ha. Very funny."

"Sorry," Dean chuckled, "Not a lot of scenery here in east Texas—you kind of got to make your own."

Melody leaned forward, throwing her arms across the front seat, "And you were our canvas."

Sam sneered at her little grin, "We're not kids anymore guys. We're not gonna start that crap up again."

"Start what up?" Dean asked glancing over at him.

"That prank stuff. It's stupid and it always escalates."

"Oh what's the matter Sammy, you afraid you're gonna get a little Nair in your shampoo again? Huh?"

Melody laughed loudly, "That was the best one I've seen yet. Courtesy of yours truly." at Sam's questioning stare she explained, "Well I kind of…provided the Nair."

Clenching his jaw Sam sighed irritated, "All right. Just remember, you two started it."

Dean sniggered, "Oh, bring it on baldy."

Ignoring the name Sam looked around through the windows, "Where are we, anyway?"

"A few hours outside of Richardson," Melody answered reaching down and pulling up a half-eaten bag of chips.

As she opened up the bag Dean took one eagerly and looked at Sam, "Give us the lowdown again."

Picking up a pile of papers by his feet Sam started explaining the case to them, "All right, about a month or two ago, this group of kids goes poking around this local haunted house—"

"Haunted by what?" Dean asked, swallowing his snack.

"Apparently," Sam explained reaching into the bag of chips, "a pretty misogynistic spirit. Legend goes it takes girls and strings them up in the rafters. Anyway," he said popping the snack into his mouth, "this group of kids sees this dead girl hanging in the cellar."

"Anybody I.D. the corpse?" Melody asked as she swallowed her food.

"Well, that's the thing. By the time the cops got there, the body was gone. So the cops were saying the kids were yanking their chains."

Dean shrugged, "Maybe the cops are right."

"Maybe," Sam nodded, "But I read a couple of the kids' firsthand accounts. They seem pretty sincere."

Melody rolled up the bag, "Where'd you read these accounts?"

Sam paused and laughed, "Well, I knew we were gonna be passing through Texas, so last night I was surfing some local…paranormal websites, and I found one."

Dean scoffed, "And what's it called?"

"Hellhoudslair. com" Sam answered him and heard his sister snicker,

"Let me guess," she spoke setting down the near-empty bag, "Streaming live out of mom's basement." Melody searched around her duffle bag until she found a pack of mints. Opening the tin can she popped a few in her mouth and offered them to her brothers who took some eagerly.

As Dean chewed on his mint he said, "Most of those websites wouldn't know a ghost if it bit them in the pursqueeter."

Melody giggled at him, tossing the mints back into her bag and leaning forward again. She started looking through the articles Sam had collected together while he stared out his window. "Look," he began, "we let dad take off, which was a mistake by the way, and now we don't know where the hell he is. So meantime, we got to find ourselves something to hunt. There's no harm checking this thing out."

"All right." Dean sighed, "So, where do we find these kids?"

"Same place you always find kids in a town like this."

* * *

Melody ran her fingers through her hair as she stepped out of the car. Her and her brothers had done some questioning at a local diner. They found all of the kids who had reported the incident and asked them for every detail. Most were completely different from the other but one detail was the same. The guy who had taken them there was named Craig Thurston. After they found out where he worked, the Winchesters had left the diner quickly.

Dean held open the door for his siblings as they all walked into "The Eighth Note" record store. "Can I help you three with anything?"

Glancing over Melody saw a kid, roughly eighteen years old, carrying a box full of records. He set the box down and started flipping through it. "Yeah," she began, stepping forward, "Are you Craig Thurston?"

Craig looked up from his record sorting at her and grinned flirtatiously, "For you babe, I'd be anybody."

Dean and Sam both tensed up. "Uh…yeah, no thanks kid. I'm way out of your league."

"Your loss," Craig shrugged and went back to sorting.

"Look," Dean said stepping in front of Melody, "We're reporters with the Dallas Morning News. I'm Dean, this is Sam and Melody."

"No way," Craig remarked excitedly, "Yeah, I'm a writer too. I write for my school's lit magazine."

"Well good for you Morrison," Dean said sarcastically though Craig didn't seem to notice.

Sam spoke up, "Um…we're doing a collaboration article on local hauntings, and rumor has it you might know about one."

"You mean the hell house?" Craig asked them.

Melody nodded while Dean answered, "That's the one."

"I didn't think there was anything to the story," Craig shook his head at them.

"Why don't you tell us the story?" Melody asked him.

Craig stuffed a record into a pile and turned to them, putting his hands on his hips, "Well, supposedly back in the '30s, this farmer, Mordechai Murdoch, used to live in the house with his six daughters. During the depression, his crops were failing. Didn't have enough money to even feed his own children. So I guess that's when he went off the deep end."

"How?" Sam questioned.

"Well," Craig took a deep breath and continued, "He figured it was best if his girls died quick rather than starve to death…so he attacked them. They screamed, begged for him to stop. But he just strung them up, one after another. And then when he was all finished, he turned around and hung himself. Now they say that his spirit is trapped in the house forever, stringing up any other girl who goes inside."

"Where'd you hear all this?" Dean probed while Melody stuck her hands in her pockets.

"My cousin Dana told me," Craig answered, "I don't know where she heard it from. You got to realize I didn't believe this for a second."

"But," Melody said squinting at him, "Now you do."

Craig stared at her for a while, then in half a whisper he said, "I don't know what to think. Guys, I'll tell you exactly what I told the police, okay? That girl was real. And she was dead. This was not a prank. I swear to God, I don't want to go anywhere near that house ever again, okay?"

* * *

Melody groaned as her brothers led the way up the muddy path to the hell house. Her boots were covered in mud. Luckily they were made of durable leather but still…they were her favorite boots. She had gone for a different look than normal. Instead of her fit and flare jeans she had decided to wear dark skinnies tucked into her brown leather, combat style boots. She still had on the typical shirts. Black tank top, blue flannel shirt but had put on a lighter coat opting for her army green long jacket that sat comfortably at her hips.

"Can't say I blame the kid," Sam commented staring at the worn down, creepy home.

"Yeah. So much for curb appeal." Dean said sarcastically.

Melody and Sam walked around the perimeter of the house but came up with empty hands. Joining her oldest brother she looked over his shoulder at the EMF detector.

"Got something?" Sam asked standing in front of his siblings.

"Yeah, the EMF's no good," Dean grumbled tapping the device in his hands.

"Why is that?" Melody peered closer at the detector.

Dean nodded at the power lines, "I think that thing's still got some juice in it. It's screwing with all the readings."

"Yeah, that'd do it," Sam agreed.

"Well," Melody said hands at her sides, "Let's go."

Dean led the way into the house; the front door creaking loudly as he slowly opened it. The place was a mess. Spray painted symbols all over the walls, old rotting furniture scattered everywhere. As they moved further into the home, Melody saw used candles sitting on the fireplace.

"Looks like old man Murdoch was a bit of a tagger during his time," Dean commented looking around at the walls.

"And after his time too," Sam said pulling out his phone, "The reverse cross has been used by Satanists for centuries…but that…" he said pointing at a symbol. It was a small circle with a bold cross in the center.

Melody nodded and chewed her thumb nail, "You're right Sammy. The sigil of sulfur didn't show up in San Francisco until what? The seventies?"

"Sixties actually," he corrected her and took a picture of the symbol.

Dean looked at both his siblings, "That is exactly why you never get laid."

Melody scoffed, "Dean, you wouldn't know. Every time begin to talk about my sex life you—"

"Ah!" Dean cringed and plugged his ears, "Don't want to know about my sisters…escapades."

Satisfied she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him an 'I told you so' look. Shuddering Dean moved back around the room and stopped at a symbol on the wall underneath the stairs, "What about this one? Either of you seen this one before?"

Melody walked up and stood at her brother's right side, staring hard at the symbol. Sam joined them; standing to Dean's left and shook his head, "No."

"I feel like I have," Melody squinted at the symbol. Dean nodded,

"Yeah me too…I know I've seen it somewhere."

Sam reached out and touched the edge of the symbol, pulling back his fingers he rubbed them together, "It's paint. Seems pretty fresh too."

Looking around the house Dean shrugged, "I don't know Sam. I hate to agree with authority figures of any kind, but the cops might be right about this one."

Melody sighed, she was honestly a little dissap—she looked over along with her brothers. They heard a small shuffle and crashing sound coming from the other side of the house. All three moved quietly over to the door where the sounds were coming from. Melody stood by Sam on one side of the door, Dean leaned on the other. Dean held up his fingers and counted down. Three…two…one!

Sam kicked open the door, all three prepared themselves for a fight. But instead got flashed with bright lights and heard slightly girlish squeals. "Whoa! Whoa!" Melody heard two men exclaim as she covered her eyes blocking the lights that were blinding her.

The lights lowered, "Ugh, cut!"

Melody blinked a few times and felt her shoulders slump. Two men, roughly the same height as her stood in the kitchen holding cameras and a large flashlight. "Just a couple humans," the one with glasses said looking at them.

"What the hell are you doing here?" his friend asked.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?" Melody asked stepping into the light, stealthily sheathing her hunting knife.

Both men stopped fidgeting with their equipment and stared at her. The one holding the large flashlight let his jaw drop. Melody, uncomfortable and slightly confused looked back at Sam, "Was it something I said?"

Sam only shrugged at her in an 'I don't know' sort of way. Recovering from their momentary lapse the man with the glasses spoke, "Uh…we belong here. We're professionals."

"Professional what?" Dean asked.

"Paranormal investigators," glasses answered him reaching into his pocket he pulled out two cards flicking them out toward Sam and Dean, "Here you go. Take a look at that."

Melody looked down at the card in Dean's hand and chewed her lip, holding back from snickering. "You gotta be kidding me," Dean said glancing up at the two men standing across from them.

"Ed Zeddmore and Harry Spengler," Sam read out loud, "hellhoundslair. com—you guys run that website."

"Yeah," glasses or Ed nodded in a bragging tone.

"Yeah, yeah." Dean said walking around them, "We're huge fans."

"And uh…we know who you guys are, too."

Sam looked up at Ed, "Oh yeah?"

Clearing his throat Harry answered him, "Amateurs looking for ghosts and cheap thrills. Yeah, so, if you guys don't mind, we're trying to conduct a serious scientific investigation here."

Melody again had to chew her lip to hold back from laughing. They were so nerdy it was almost adorable. "Oh really?" she feigned ignorance.

"What do you got so far?" Dean asked picking through the contents of a kitchen cabinet.

Ed looked up from his camera, "Har, why don't you tell them about EMF?"

Sam played along with Melody's game of pretending to not know what they were talking about, "EMF?" he questioned, hands buried into his pockets.

"Electromagnetic field," Harry answered and turned his back not seeing Sam and Melody share a smile he continued, "Spectral entities can cause energy fluctuations that can be read with an EMF detector. Like this bad boy right here."

Harry pulled out a boxy EMF detector and turned it on pulling out the antenna. Melody walked forward and leaned in close, pursing her lips as she looked down at the device in Harry's hands. He held it out for her to see and they watched as the needle started going crazy, "Whoa, whoa," Harry exclaimed showing the device to Ed, "It's 2.8 mG. It's hot in here."

"Oh wow," Melody let her eyes widen and licked her lips. She felt an ounce of satisfaction when Harry stared at her a bit longer than necessary.

"Wow that is something," Sam said looking around the kitchen.

Dean spoke up from his spot by the counters, "So, have you guys ever really seen a ghost before?"

Ed looked over at him slowly, "Once. We were investigating this old house, and we saw a vase fall right off the table."

"By itself," Harry emphasized.

"Well," Ed stuttered quickly, "we didn't actually—we didn't actually see it, but we heard it. And something like that, it uh…it changes you."

Dean crossed his arms over his chest, "Yeah, I think I get the picture. We should go, let them get back to work." He said to his siblings nudging his head toward the exit.

"Yeah you should," Harry snipped at them. Before she turned to leave Melody glanced back at them and smiled sweetly,

"Sorry to interrupt your investigation guys. Hope we didn't cause too much trouble." She wiggled her fingers at them and left without another word.

"Wow…we need to get a girl on the team like them," Harry said looking down at his camera. Ed only sniggered and picked up his own camera,

"Sorry man, that pot we smoked gave me the giggles."

* * *

Melody led Sam out of the library and saw their brother walking up the street towards them. "Hey brother-bear," she greeted bounding down the steps towards him.

Dean smiled at her; he always liked it when she called him that. It brought back good memories. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders he ruffled her hair and looked over at Sam, "What'd you guys find?"

"Well," Sam said opening up his journal and reading off his notes, "I couldn't find a Mordechai, but I did turn up a Martin Murdoch who lived in that house in the '30s. He did have children, but only two of them, both boys."

"And," Melody added, "There was no record he ever killed anyone. What about you?" she asked poking Dean in the side.

He flinched away but only tightened his grip on her and reported, "Those kids didn't give a clear description of the dead girl, but I did hit up the police station. No matching missing persons—it's like she never existed."

They walked around and stood by the Impala, "Come on Sam, we did our digging. This one's a bust. For all we know, those Hellhound boys made up the whole thing."

Dean removed his arm from around Melody and pulled out his keys while she pouted, "Damn, I kind of liked them." at Dean's surprised stare she smiled, "What? Shut up…I like nerdy guys."

Sam sighed, "Yeah…all right. It's a bust."

"Now," Dean said sticking his keys into the door unlocking the car, "I say we find ourselves a bar and some beers and leave the legend to the locals."

"Oh brother-bear you read my mind," Melody smiled getting into the back. Leaning over the front seat she drummed the leather happily. Dean turned the engine over and both he and Melody fell back in their seats covering their ears when loud, blaring Spanish music blasted through the speakers.

Reaching out Melody fumbled over Dean's hands as they fought to turn off the music. They did…and turned on the lights and windshield wipers as well. Sam, laughing triumphantly to himself sat down in the passenger seat. He licked his pointer finger and held it up mouthing the words, "One. Me."

"What that's all you got moose?" Melody grumbled at him.

Dean scoffed, "That's weak. That is Bush-League."

* * *

Melody sighed and stretched her arms above her head. The sounds of the ocean waves crashing behind her. She was warm, and so at peace. It truly was paradise. The hammock swung back and forth with the cool island breeze, white sand kicked up a bit but not too much that it was bothering her.

"…Melody…" she heard a voice; it sounded like bells to her. The ringing of a thousand beautiful notes all mixed in as one to create the perfect music.

Sitting up in her hammock she stood, feeling the warm sand in between her toes, her white bikini almost reflecting the bright sun. Looking around she called out, "Hello? Who's there?"

She heard no answer, only the waves crashing behind her. "Sam? Dean? _Hello_?"

"Melody," a voice whispered behind her. She turned and had to cover her eyes the light was almost too much. A soft ringing sounded in her ears and she gasped feeling an immense heat coming from whoever was standing there.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The voice came through in pieces, like a bad call on a cell phone, "…Melody…wake…brothers need…"

"Who are you?" She demanded, squinting at the light.

Again the voice was broken and so soft, she could hardly hear it, "…tiel…na…Ca…ti…"

* * *

Melody gasped, shooting straight up in her bed and looked around the room in a slight panic. "You okay there squirt?"

Nearly falling over she shook herself and saw Sam sitting just at the end of the bed pulling on his shoes. "I…I just…had a really weird dream."

Sam watched her with concern, "Weird? Or…nightmare?"

"No," she said quickly standing up from the bed, "just…weird. Like—never had one like that before in my life."

"Okay," Sam dropped the subject and began tying his shoes, "Well, it's a good thing you're up. There was just a 911 call for the hell house. Figured you want to get the bathroom before Dean does."

Melody sighed, "You are awesome bro, yes I do." She grabbed her bag of toiletries and a fresh pair of clothes and her makeup, running into the bathroom shutting the door behind her. Turning on the shower she put it as cold as possible and got in letting out a stuttering, shaking breath.

That dream had completely thrown her off. What the hell was that thing? It felt…powerful and dangerous and peaceful all at once—whatever that presence or being or something she had come up with must have been a manifestation of her own inner thoughts and feelings. Yeah…that sounded good.

She decided to never bring it up ever again to Sam. The dream freaked her out way too much already just thinking about it…she did not feel like talking about it.

Nearly half an hour later Melody stepped out of the bathroom with damp hair, fresh make up and clothes. She had learned over the years how to get ready in a hurry, especially when she had two brothers who did not know the importance of makeup and fixing hair until it looked perfect.

Dean grumbled something along the lines of 'about damn time' and walked past her into the bathroom. Snickering Melody sat down on her bed stuffing her belongings back into her duffle she glanced up at Sam. He was watching her with slight anxiety but didn't say anything. Nearly ten minutes later they were on the road, heading for the hell house.

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	10. Silver Eyes and Mordechai

**Ok so I've been working all day long on this chap making sure it is perfect, and it's about 2,000 words longer than i normally post but hey its more story right? I'll be posting the next chap by friday hopefully, so enjoy this one :D thanks to my reviewers, you guys are the best!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody**

* * *

Melody kneeled down in the dirt with her brothers behind a collection of dry trees. They had been hiding out all day waiting for the cops to leave. Though after the "suicide" early that day she wasn't surprised they were still there. A young girl about eighteen years old, had been found inside the cellar, hung by the neck with a rope.

They had obviously missed something and the Winchesters decided to stake out the house. Sam sighed and whispered to his siblings, "I guess the cops don't want any more kids screwing around in there."

"Yeah," Dean said glancing at him, "but we still got to get in there." He watched the house a bit longer than glanced over when he heard twigs snapping and hushed talking. He felt his jaw slacken a little, "I don't believe it."

Melody followed where his eyes had landed and felt her jaw drop too, "Those brave, insane, stupid nerds."

Dean patted her shoulder, "I got an idea." Slowly he stood up and cupped a hand over the side of his mouth and shouted, "Who you gonna call!"

The Hellhounds stopped in their tracks pulling off their large goggles, looking around to see who had yelled. The police, alerted to their presence ran after the two as they bolted. Melody laughed and stood with her brothers sprinting into the house.

Sam set down their supply bag and pulled out two sawed off shotguns handing both to his siblings. Melody turned on her flashlight as Sam whipped out his own shotgun and stood up straight. Dean and his sister moved their lights around the house, both stopped on the strange symbol on the wall below the stairs.

"Where have we seen that symbol Mels? It's killing me."

"Come on," Sam said pulling his siblings' attention away from the wall, "We don't have much time."

They moved down to the cellar, it was obviously the heart of whatever was going on in the house. Looking around the near empty basement Melody saw a few jars stacked onto shelves. Dean walked up closer to the jars and handed his gun to his sister before picking one up. Shining his flashlight into the milky, red liquid he glanced over his shoulder, "Hey Sam, I dare you to take a swig of this."

Sam, amazed at his brothers skills of getting easily distracted stared at him for a moment, "The hell would I do that for?"

Melody leaned in closer to look at the jar then grinned and looked back at her little brother, "I double dare you."

Rolling his eyes Sam went back to looking around the cellar. Dean elbowed his sister and tried to give her the jar causing her to chuckle and gently push it away. He was about to dare her to try but stopped when they all heard a scraping sound come from the other side of the basement. Quickly handing Dean his shotgun back, all three moved towards the noise.

Coming around they zeroed in on the scrapes that were echoing out of a drawer. Dean stood a few feet in front of the doors, Sam and Melody stood to the side. With a nod from their brother, the younger Winchesters reached out and quickly pulled open the doors. A mess of rats squeaked and scurried out and off to a dark corner of the basement.

"Ugh," Dean grimaced, "I hate rats."

"What, you'd rather it was a ghost?" Sam asked moving to stand by his brother.

"Yes," Dean said a look of disgust on his face. Melody could only smile warmly at him, her big, loveable idiot brother. She made to tell him how much of a girl he was acting like but shouted at him to move raising her gun at the same time Sam did. The spirit of…whoever…with its read glowing eyes wielding a large axe and was swinging it back and aiming at their brother's head.

Sam shot first, hitting the ghost in the shoulder but it didn't even budge. Grunting Melody shot again and hit it in the chest, the spirit flickered but did not fully disappear. Dean threw out his gun arm and pulled the trigger hitting the ghost in the stomach and it finally puffed away.

"What the hell kind of spirit is immune to rock salt?" Sam exclaimed.

"I don't know," Dean said glancing around the basement wearily. Knowing that the spirit would be back he pushed Melody and Sam in front of him, "Come on! Go!"

Melody followed Sam as Dean skirted around behind the shelves of jars. They heard a loud whooshing sound and then the first set of jars and shelves burst and shattered. The ghost had thrown his axe through the wood, sending Dean falling back onto the floor.

Whipping around Melody blocked the spirit's axe with the barrel of her gun and shot him in the chest. It wailed at her and kicked her in the stomach sending her flying backwards, landing just at the bottom of the stairs.

Sam yelled and blocked the spirit's attacks, holding up the axe he shouted at his siblings who were slowly getting to their feet, "Go! Get outta here!"

Melody felt Dean push her up the stairs and glanced back to see Sam quickly following avoiding the axe that was sent into the breaker box of the house. Sprinting through the rooms she stood by the door and pointed her gun down the halls with Dean copying her. Sam stopped at the front door and backed up a few steps.

"Sammy! Hurry!" she cried letting off two more rounds, only slowing down the ghost.

Dean shot the ghost one more time then grabbed Melody by the elbow, "Go! Go!" she turned and ran for the front door and burst through with Sam as he sent his shoulder through the wood, Dean right behind them. They stumbled and fell over onto the ground, breaking the police tape surrounding the house.

"Turn those things off!" Melody shouted when she spotted Ed and Harry standing just outside a few feet from the house. Picking up Sam she made a run for it hearing Dean yelling at the nerds,

"Get that damn thing out of my face!"

"Come on Dean!" Sam called back to his brother.

Ed and Harry were confused at these amateur's behaviors. But when they looked up at the entrance to the house they knew why they were running so fast…

"Sweet lord…" Ed trailed off, voice going out.

"Of the rings!" Harry wailed taking off his goggles. They both exchanged quick glances and then turned and ran, only running into the cops again.

"Wait! There's a..." the tried to explain but when they looked back at the house all they saw was dark.

* * *

Melody sighed, pulling her hair back into a messy bun she sat down on the bed next to Dean sipping at her water. Dean was scratching down the symbol they had been mulling over all night since they got back from the house.

Finishing up his drawing Dean held out the pad for him and his sister to see, "What the _hell_ is this symbol? It's bugging the hell out of me."

Chewing her lip Melody took the pad and studied it for a moment before saying, "Honestly this whole job is bugging me."

"Yeah," Dean agreed with her, "I thought the legend said that Mordechai only goes after chicks."

"It does," Sam said staring down at his laptop screen.

"Right. Well, that explains why he went after you and Mels, but why me?"

Melody sniggered and swatted Dean's arm while Sam deadpanned, "Hilarious." Returning his attention to his research Sam explained to them, "Legend also says he hung himself, but you see those slit wrists?"

Thinking back Melody nodded, "Yeah, what's up with that?" Standing up from her spot she moved to sit next to Sam and continued her questions, "And the ax too? I mean, ghosts are usually creatures of habit…they follow a set pattern and repeat it over and over?"

"But his mood keeps changing," Dean slowly realized.

Sam nodded in agreement, "Exactly. I'm telling you," he looked at his laptop screen where he had hellhoundslair. com open, "the way the story goes—wait a minute."

"What?" Melody asked leaning over to look at the screen.

Pointing out what he had seen Sam explained, "Someone added a new posting to the hellhound site. Listen to this—"They say Mordechai Murdoch was really a Satanist who chopped up his victims with an ax before slitting his own wrists. Now he's imprisoned in the house for eternity"—where the hell is this going?"

Melody rubbed her tired eyes and glanced back at Dean who sat up quickly, "I don't know, but I think I might have just figured out where it all started."

He grinned at them and stood grabbing his jacket calling for his siblings to follow. Confused they got up and ran after him. "Dean? What are you talking about? You figured out what that symbol was?"

"Yup," he grinned getting into the Impala.

"Well, what is it?" she asked sitting down in the back seat.

Starting up the engine he looked over his shoulder at her, "You'll figure it out…just remember sis—don't fear the reaper."

Melody was incredibly confused and had to think for a moment. Then like a crashing wave it hit her. "Oh my god!"

* * *

"Hi Craig," Melody said warmly as her and her brothers entered the record store. Dean smiled at Craig when he looked over at them,

"Remember us?"

Craig sighed, setting down his coffee cup he stood, "Guys, look I'm really not in the mood to answer any more of your questions today."

"Oh don't worry," Dean smirked at him, "We're just here to buy an album, that's all." He started shuffling through a stack of records he pulled one out and glanced at his siblings, "You know, I couldn't figure out what that symbol was, and then I realized it doesn't mean anything. It's a logo for Blue Oyster Cult."

"So tell me Craig," Melody spoke as she crossed her arms over her chest, "You into B.O.C. or just scaring the hell out of people?"

Dean handed him the record he had picked out, Blue Oyster Cult was printed in bold letters and on the back the same symbol they had been mulling over stood out against the pale background of the album art.

"Now, why don't you tell us about that house—without lying through your ass this time?" Dean gave him a knowing and slightly threatening smile. Craig sighed and put down the record, surrendering he crossed his arms and began his story,

"All right. My cousin Dana was on break from TCU. I guess we were just bored, looking for something to do, so I showed her this abandoned dump I found. We thought it'd be funny if we made it look like it was haunted. So we painted symbols on the walls, some from albums, some from some of Dana's theology textbooks.

"Then we found out this guy Murdoch used to live there, so we—we made up some story to go along with that. So they told people who told other people. And then these two guys put it on their stupid website. Everything just took on a life of its own. I mean, I thought it was funny at first, but… now that girl's dead. It was just a joke you know? None of it was real. We made the whole thing up. I swear."

Melody gave him a sympathetic look as Craig fought back fearful tears. "It…" she reached out a hand and gently patted his shoulder, "It's okay. Thank you, for telling us the truth."

The Winchesters turned and walked away from the tearful Craig and Dean could only shrug, "How the hell do you explain Mordechai then?"

* * *

Melody and Dean opened up the motel room door, tossing down the keys onto the nearby table. They could hear the sound of water running coming from the bathroom. Stifling a laugh Melody sat down on the edge of a bed while Dean walked up the Sam's piled up clothes holding up the bag of itching powder they had bought earlier before returning.

"Hey, we're back," Dean called over his shoulder as the water shut off.

"Where'd you guys go?" Sam asked from the bathroom.

"Oh, we went out," Melody smiled as Dean picked up their little brother's briefs opening the bag of itching powder and shaking it out over the underwear.

"So, I think I might have a theory about what's going on," Sam said to them.

"Really?" Melody probed pointing out areas Dean had missed.

"Yeah, what if Mordechai is a tulpa?"

"Tulpa?" Dean questioned while Melody quickly pushed his hands back as Sam walked out of the bathroom in a dark robe.

"Yeah, a Tibetan thought form." He explained throwing out his arms.

Melody stood and wrapped and arm through Dean's. Scoffing she shrugged, "We know what a tulpa is Sammy. Why don't you go ahead and get dressed? We'll go get some grub." She turned and pulled Dean out of the motel room, grabbing their keys and chewing on her lip as she fought back the laughter.

* * *

"Here you go."

Thanking the clerk Melody took her coffee and walked down the line with her brothers in front of her. They grabbed napkins and other things all while Sam awkwardly moved his legs up and down.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Dean asked leading the way to a table.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Sam said stuffing a mess of napkins into his pocket.

Grinning Melody sat down at a table with her brothers, "All right, so keep going. Tell us everything you know about tulpas."

"Okay uh…" Sam sat down next to her shifting uncomfortably in his seat and continued, "There was this incident in Tibet in 1915. A group of monks visualize a golem in their heads. They meditate on it so hard that they bring the thing to life out of thin air."

"So?" Dean shrugged sipping at his coffee.

"That was only twenty monks. Imagine what ten-thousands web servers could do. I mean, Craig starts the story about Mordechai," he explained pulling out his laptop, "then it spreads goes online. Now there are countless people all believing in the bastard."

"Okay wait," Dean held out a hand and glanced at Melody, "you're trying to tell us that just because people believe in Mordechai, he's real?"

"It could happen," Melody stifled a laugh by drinking more of her coffee. Sam was squirming in his seat more and more.

"Well…people believe in Santa Claus. How come I'm not getting hooked up every Christmas?" Dean asked him giving his sister a knowing look and hiding his own grin.

Sam stared at his screen, "Cause you're a bad person and cause of this." he scooted the laptop away from himself letting his siblings see the screen he explained for them, "That's a Tibetan spirit sigil on the wall of the house. Craig said they were painting symbols from a theology textbook. I bet you they painted this, not even knowing what it was."

Melody set down her cup and squinted at the screen, her memory coming back to her, "Wait…hasn't that sigil been used for centuries? I-it concentrates meditative thoughts like a magnet so…"

Nodding Sam finished for her, "People are on the hellhounds website, staring at the symbol, thinking about Mordechai. I mean, I don't know, but it might be enough to bring a tulpa to life."

"It would explain why it keeps changing," Dean agreed as Sam wiggled in his seat more.

"Right—as the legend changes, people think different things, so Mordechai himself changes."

"Like a game of telephone." Melody finally understood what Sam had been talking about the whole time and then snapped her fingers, "That explains why the rock salt didn't work."

Dean took the top of his coffee off, "Yeah, cause he's not a traditional spirit per se. Okay so why don't we just get this spirit-sigil thingy off the wall and off the website?"

"Well, you see once tulpas are created, they take on a life of their own."

Melody sighed, noticing how Sam grimaced and reached his hand underneath the table. "All right," Dean distracted her-thankfully-and she covered her mouth to hide the smile, "so if he really is a thought form, how the hell are we supposed to kill an idea?"

"It won't be easy with the nerds helping us," Melody grumbled reaching over and pulling up the hellhounds website. She opened up a video and pointed at it, "They posted that video last night and ever since, the number of hits has quadrupled in the last day alone."

"Huh…" Dean thought for a moment then stood from his seat, "I got an idea. Come on."

"Where we going?" Sam asked quickly stuffing his laptop into his bag. All three stood as Dean answered,

"Gonna find a copy store."

"Man," Sam grumbled standing up following his siblings, "I think I'm allergic to our soap or something."

Dean and Melody exchanged a look then broke down in fits of laughter. Sam stared at them with wide eyes, "You two did this?"

They only answered him with more laughs, Melody stuck her arm through Deans and they walked off triumphantly. Sam scoffed, "You guys are the worst!"

* * *

"No, no, no," Harry grumbled at his friend, "forget it. Forget it—I'm not going back in there again."

"Harry look at me," Ed insisted and pointed at his lens covered eyes, "right here okay? You are a ghost hunter, okay?"

"I know but Ed—I've never seen a real ghost before like a _real_ ghost," Harry stuttered.

Ed pointed at the computer screens that took up an entire wall of their trailer home, "This stuff right here, this is our ticket to the big time—fame, money, sex…with girls okay? Be brave. W.W.B.D.—what would Buffy do? Huh?"

Harry recited the words quietly to himself and then slowly shook his head, "I know, but Ed, she's stronger than me."

Leaning forward Ed patted Harry's knee, "I know…it's okay—"

_BANG BANG BANG_

Harry nearly fell out of his seat while Ed called out, "Who is it?"

They heard Dean's voice from the other side of the door, "Come on out here guys. We hear you in there."

Melody stood in between her brothers and watched Ed and Harry stick their heads out the door. "Hello boys," she smiled warmly at them and Dean chuckled,

"Oh look at that. Action figures in their original packaging—what a shocker."

"Guys, we need to talk," Sam said ignoring his brother.

"Yeah um sorry guys," Ed began, stepping down to stand in front of the siblings, "We're a little bit busy right now."

"Okay, well we'll make it quick." Dean started and Melody finished for him,

"We need you to shut down your website."

Ed chuckled at them and looked over at Harry, "You know, these guys get us busted last night. We spend the night in a holding cell…"

Harry looked at them with accusing eyes, "I had to pee in front of people, and I get stage fright."

"Why should we trust you guys?" Ed asked them.

"Look," Sam answered, "We all know what we saw last night, what's in the house. But now, thanks to your website there are thousands of people hearing about Mordechai."

Dean continued the explanation, "Which means people are gonna keep showing up to the hell house and running into him."

"And that means, somebody could get hurt," Melody finished.

Ed watched them suspiciously, "Yeah…"

"Maybe they've got a point," Harry said to his friend slightly worried.

"No, no." Ed insisted and Harry quickly agreed with him. Pushing up his glasses further onto his nose Ed continued, "We have an obligation to our fans, to the truth."

Dean chuckled, "Well I have an obligation to kick both of your ass's right n—"

Melody quickly covered, placing her hand on his arm and saying, "Dean, it's all right. Just forget it. You could probably…" she chewed her lip looking at the 'ghost-hunters' and looked back up at her brother, "bitch-slap them both or Sammy could probably even tell them about that thing about Mordechai."

Sam nodded as they got curious stares from the boys, "But…they're still not gonna help us. So let's just go."

"Yeah, you're both right. Let's go." Dean put an arm around Melody's shoulders and all three began walking away with Ed and Harry following after.

"What did you say about—"

"Hold on a second here."

"Yeah, what thing about Mordechai, you guys?"

Gently patting her little brother's arm Melody said, "Tell em Sam."

"But if they agree to shut their website down—"

"They're not gonna do it," Dean added but Harry spoke up desperately from behind them,

"No wait, wait. Don't listen to him okay, we'll do it." The Winchesters stopped and looked at each other.

Dean shrugged, "It's a secret Sam."

Sam sighed and threw out his arms as he turned towards the hellhounds, "Look, it is a pretty big deal all right, and it wasn't easy to dig up, so only if we have your words that you'll shut everything down."

Ed nodded vigorously, "Yeah, totally."

Melody sighed, "All right…Dean?"

The oldest Winchester reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded up paper. Handing it to the boys Sam explained, "It's a death certificate from the '30s. We got it at the library. According to the coroner, the actual cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

"He's right," Melody nodded, "He didn't hang or cut himself."

Harry's eyes went wide, "He shot himself?"

"Yep," Dean confirmed, "with a .45 pistol."

Sam continued the story, "To this day, they say he's terrified of them."

"As a matter of fact, they say if you shoot him with a .45 loaded with these special wrought-iron rounds, you'd kill the son of a bitch."

Dean finished the tale and the boys looked positively thrilled. They exchanged excited looks, glanced back at the Winchesters and then Harry took off running back to his trailer. Ed gave them a tiny wave and walked away, trying to contain his own excitement as he whispered at his friend harshly, "Harry, slow down."

* * *

Melody sighed and sat back in her seat next to Sam. She had just gotten back from the bathroom and started picking at her little brother's left over fries. Dean, smirking reached up and pulled the long string attached to the cheesy decoration on the wall above them. The small plastic man with the large fish in his hands began cackling creepily at them, tiny jaw shaking up and down.

Sam reached over his sister and pulled on the cord giving Dean a threatening stare, "If you pull that string one more time, I'm gonna kill you."

Dean only gave him a blank stare and watched from the corner of his eye while Melody reached over and pulled on the string. The mechanic cackling came back and Sam giving his sister a good scowl turned it off again quickly.

Melody and Dean laughed at each other while Sam returned to his laptop. "Come on, man." Dean chuckled, "You need more laughter in your life, you know? You're way too tense."

Sam didn't answer, only sipped at his beer and set it down on the table firmly. Rolling her eyes Melody glanced at his laptop, "They post it yet?"

He nodded and showed the screen to their oldest brother, taking his fork and stabbing at his food. Dean read the latest post out loud, " 'We have learned from reputable sources that Mordechai Murdoch has a fatal fear of firearms.' All right, how long do we wait?"

Slamming his laptop shut Sam shrugged, "Long enough for the new story to spread and the legend to change. I figure by nightfall, iron rounds will work on the sucker." He picked up his beer, holding it out as if to give a triumphant cheer. Dean and Melody picked up their own beers and clinked their bottles with his, "Sweet," Dean grinned taking a large gulp.

Pulling their bottles from their lips, Melody and Dean found they couldn't seem to let go of their bottles. Sam, unable to keep it together anymore scoffed and let out a loud laugh as his siblings tried to shake off the bottles from their hands.

Looking at her brother in complete horror Melody felt her jaw drop, "Sammy…"

"You didn't." Dean finished giving him a look of equal shock.

Pausing in his laughter Sam held up a small tube of super-glue, "Oh, I did." He chuckled again and pulled down on the string and snickered at his siblings shocked, angry faces with the plastic man's cackling.

* * *

Dean opened the door to the hell house pointing his pistol and flashlight around as he felt his siblings follow closely behind him. They had led the cops away by using the plastic fisherman. Hanging up the novelty item on a tree and pulling the string, letting the mechanic cackling lead the away. Melody moved around with her back pressed against her brothers', gun aimed, ready for any surprises.

Rubbing his now sore hand onto his jacket Dean grumbled, "I barely have any skin left on my palm,"

"Oh it wasn't that bad drama queen," Melody scoffed but also had to give him credit, her fingers were pretty sore.

Sam let out a breathy laugh, "I ain't touchin that line with a ten foot pole."

Dean stopped and shined his light into Sam's eyes giving him a 'shut-up' look. Melody scoffed and gently shoved her brothers further into the house as they returned to the job. Coming through the door they saw the kitchen and then the door that led them down to the cellar.

"Well, you think old Mordechai is home?" Dean asked them sarcastically.

"I don't know," Sam answered gripping his gun tighter.

"Me either." The Winchesters whipped around, pointing their guns at whoever had startled them. "Whoa! Whoa, hey whoah!" Ed and Harry jumped back, pulling off their goggles.

The siblings sighed and lowered their weapons; Dean trained his flashlight on them while Sam asked, "What the hell are you trying to do, get yourselves killed?"

Ed, with his palms facing outward explained, "We're just trying to get a book and movie deal, okay?"

Melody rolled her eyes at them and looked over her shoulder as they heard scrapes and the sound of a blade being drawn. She stood a little closer to Dean and aimed her gun at the door. Ed and Harry came up behind them pointing their camera in between Sam and Melody's shoulder. Harry gasped when he heard more sounds coming from the cellar, "Oh crap."

"Uh, guys, you want to open that door for us?" Ed requested in a shaking voice.

"Why don't you?" Dean challenged, gun and flashlight trained on the door. There was a moment of pure, tense silence. Melody was afraid that they would have to go down into the basement again but she forgot her fears when Mordechai came bursting through the cellar door, ax in the air. The Winchesters didn't hesitate and started firing off their pistols, sending Mordechai puffing away.

Dean waited for a second then jerked his head at Sam telling him to check out the cellar as he walked out of the kitchen, leaving Melody with Ed and Harry. The boys were shaking, Ed was breathing heavily, "Wait a minute…wait, is he gone? Oh, he's gone."

"Did you get him?" Harry asked glancing at Melody who had her gun pointed down at the ground but looked incredibly threatening. Her lips were open slightly as she breathed hard, muscles tense, eyes fierce and piercing even in the moon-lit room.

"Oh, yeah, they got him." Ed's voice brought him back and Harry sighed,

"No, on camera. Did you get him on camera?"

Ed fumbled with the camera, shaken and a bit excited. Harry also excited took the camera from him and began messing around with the device but heard Melody call out to him. Confused he looked up, only to see Mordechai swinging his ax down, knocking the camera from his hands.

Melody pushed Ed back keeping a hand out toward him and aimed her pistol with her free arm pulling the trigger until the ghost vanished. "Hey!" Dean shouted, concerned when he heard the gunfire. He saw Melody lower her weapon and Ed pull up his friend from the floor. Sam came bounding up the cellar stairs, tense, but relaxed when he saw nobody was hurt.

Irritated Melody turned on the hellhounds, "Didn't you guys post that B.S. story we gave you?"

"Of course we did," Ed answered her.

"Yeah but…then our server crashed." Harry explained and the Winchesters could only throw back their heads in defeat.

"So it didn't take," Dean grumbled, "So these guns don't work."

"Uh…yeah," Ed answered him and Melody could only roll her eyes,

"Perfect."

"Sam, any ideas?" Dean called to the youngest sibling.

Harry stopped him, "We are getting out of here," and left quickly pulling Ed with him. They walked quickly out of the kitchen but screamed when they saw Mordechai standing just inches in front of them. Taking off, they ran into a side of the house that wasn't familiar. They found themselves in a dead end hallway, a locked door and boarded up window mocking them as they realized they had no escape.

Mordechai came around the corner, sneering and growling. Ed and Harry pressed their backs against the window, "Mother Mary and Joseph!" Harry whimpered.

"The power of Christ compels you." Ed whimpered weakly then steeled himself and shouted, "The power of Christ compels you!"

Mordechai raised his ax; "Hey ugly!" the ghost looked around to see Melody Winchester standing at the end of the hall. She threw out her arms, "Come and get it you son of a bitch."

Swinging back and snarling, the ghost threw his ax at Melody's head. She ducked as the ax got buried into the wall. Mordechai yanked the ax from the wooden wall, splinters flying everywhere. Pulling back he swung at the girl again, this time Melody caught the wood of the ax in her hands and grunted as she was shoved back against the wall.

Feeling the wooden ax dig into her throat she pushed against it. She looked over at the hellhounds' terrified faces and chocked, "Get out of here now!"

They didn't hesitate and ran off. Melody grunted and kicked out her legs trying to push away the ghost who only snarled and pushed her into the wall harder. She felt her windpipe begin to close up and groaned using all of her strength to hold back the ax. In one, last ditch effort Melody snarled and shoved herself off the wall. Some force, or unknown amount of strength took her over and Mordechai flew into the other wall stunned for a second.

"Hey!" Dean and Sam had come around the corner. Sam looked at his sister and stopped. Her eyes were…well they weren't hers for a second. They looked like silver discs; glowing in the moonlight and her face…it looked so different. The shadows that were cast onto her face made her cheekbones stand out more, her nose looked sharper and her lips were curled back into a snarl. He noticed this in the span of less than half a second…but that image would never leave him, it would haunt him every time he glanced at his big sister.

Dean either didn't notice or ignored their sister's appearance and threw out a can of compressed gas, lighting it he shouted for Melody, "Go, go, go!"

The girl shook herself, seeming to come out of a trance and ran down the hall into Sam's arms. He pulled her out of the hall with Dean right behind them. Melody, slightly shaken was being held up by Sam as Dean gently guided them out of the house he said, "Look, if Mordechai can't leave the house and we can't kill him, we improvise."

Melody through her dazed and slightly spinning head watched her older brother pull out his lighter and flick the flame to life. He tossed it down onto the floor and it caught fire immediately, the flames spreading through the house quickly. "Well we can't just stand here, come on!" Melody insisted pulling on Sam. The brothers exchanged a look and all three ran out of the burning house and kept going until they reached the tree line. Looking back at the hell house, Mordechai could be seen standing in the doorway, ax in hand before he puffed out of existence.

"That's your solution?" Sam exclaimed pointing at the house, "Burn the whole damn place to the ground?"

"Well, no one will go in anymore," Dean answered, "I mean look, Mordechai can't haunt a house if there's no house to haunt. It's fast and dirty but it works."

With his arm still around his sister Sam shook his head, "Well what if the legend changes and Mordechai is allowed to leave the house?"

Breathing heavily Dean shrugged, "Well then we'll just have to come back."

"Kinda makes you wonder," Sam said after a moment glancing back at the burning house, "of all the things we hunted, how many existed just cause people believed in them?"

"Hey guys I…" Melody trailed off and felt her knees give out underneath her.

"Whoa, whoa! Hey!" Sam caught her from falling, gripping her shoulders tightly.

"Mels?" Dean exclaimed reaching out for her, taking her face in his hands he checked her over, "Jesus you're burning up! Melody talk to me, what's wrong?"

She felt her head begin to grow heavy, her eyes felt weighted. "I don't know I feel…dizzy. I think…I think Mordechai or—" but she didn't finish her sentence. Melody's head fell forward and she went limp in Sam's arms.

"Melody!" Dean yelled as Sam picked her up in his arms, her head lolling back awkwardly.

"Come on, let's get her to the car," Sam grunted as Dean walked off quickly with his brother right behind him. They got to the Impala, Dean opening the back seat as Sam gently set their sister down. Moving around Sam got in the back seat and pulled his sister's head against his shoulder.

Dean quickly started the car glancing back in the rearview mirror at them, "How is she doing?"

Sam held a hand against her forehead, "She's cooled off a little." Chewing on his lip Sam sighed, "Dean, did you see her in the house? When she was fighting Mordechai?"

The oldest brother clenched his jaw, "I was hoping that was just a trick of the light or something."

"You and I both know that there is never a 'tick of light' when it comes to the things we deal with." Sam moved some of Melody's hair out of her face, "Her eyes were…they didn't look human."

Dean opened his mouth to reply but stopped when they heard Melody groan. "Ugh…my head."

"You okay there squirt?" Dean asked her.

"Yeah, what happened?" Melody rubbed her head and leaned against Sam, too tired to sit up.

The brothers exchanged a look, both deciding right then that they shouldn't tell her what they had seen so instead Sam patter her shoulder, "Guess that fight with Mordechai hit you harder than we thought."

Melody nodded, exhausted and rested her head back closing her eyes not seeing the worried glance her brothers shared.

* * *

Leaning against the park bench in between her brothers Melody rubbed her eyes. She felt a little better after the car ride. Sam had let her sleep for a bit longer but gently woke her up when they were pulling up to the trailer park Ed and Harry lived in. They were there to check on the hellhounds and to make sure they would stop posting on their website.

"Gentlemen…and lady," Ed greeted them all braggingly looking back he heard Harry laugh,

"Should we tell them?"

"You might as well, you know—they're just gonna read about it in the trades."

Harry glanced back at them, "This morning we got a phone call from a very important Hollywood producer."

"Oh yeah? Wrong number?" Dean chuckled.

"No, smartass," Ed deadpanned, "he read all about the hell house on our website and wants to option the motion-picture rights, maybe even have us write it."

"And create the RPG." Harry added as they put their things into their already piled up little car.

Dean scrunched his brow, "The what?"

"Role-playing game," Melody answered him and got a classic 'what the hell' look from her older brother,

"Right."

Ed laughed nervously, "It's a little lingo for you…anyhoo, excuse us. We're off to la-la land." They opened up their car doors and got in. Melody walked around to stand at Harry's window. Bending down to eye level she heard Sam congratulate Ed. Smiling at Harry she said,

"Well, good luck in Hollywood."

"Th-thanks um…"

"Melody," she answered him realizing they had never given the two their names. Ed started up the car and thinking quickly-also wanting to get a reaction out of Harry-she leaned in and pecked his cheek with a quick kiss.

The car pulled off and Harry's face was the color of fresh tomatoes. Melody smiled and walked around joining her brothers. Dean scoffed, "Wow."

"I have a confession to make," Sam said stuffing his hands into his pockets, "I was the one who called them and told them I was a producer."

Melody snorted and then joined in Dean with laughter. "Well, I'm the one who put the dead fish in their backseat." Dean confessed.

The Winchesters shared a brief moment of innocent laughter. As it died down, Sam looked across the car at his siblings, "Truce?"

"Yeah, truce—at least for the next one-hundred miles." Dean and Melody shared a knowing grin and got in the car, followed by a scoffing Sam.

* * *

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	11. Be careful

**Remember how I said I wouldn't post the next chapter until tomorrow? Well...I lied. For reals the Winchesters are my newest addiction. I cannot stop writing this story! For those who are interested, I have posted a link to a playlist I made on my spotify based off of this story :) I would love to hear anyone else's opinion on what should be on the playlist as well. ALSO in the last couple of chapters...there may or may not have been a dream sequence involving a bright light and pretty voice? Now I'm not saying that that was Cas...buuuuttt...it might have been. AND the whole Melody, shiny eyes, super strength thing? Well...that'll be explained later. Just know that it's pretty crazy haha and it makes an appearance several more times until we do find out. Okay I'll stop talking now, enjoy the read!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_June 20, 2006_

_Dad sent us to Wisconsin on a hunting trip. Sam is getting more and more irritating by the day. Maybe I'm just frustrated because this whole thing…this whole "let's kill the demon that killed mom" thing is starting to really wear on me. I want it over. I want Sam to be happy again, I want Dean and me to be best friends like we used to. He's becoming a little more distant. I know it's because he's starting to feel the same way as me but of course he won't freaking say anything to me about what's bothering him. Ugh! I try to get him to talk but he just gets all sarcastic and "you're funny squirt" and completely changes the subject._

_And lately…I don't know lately I've been feeling kind of…weird. Ever since I had that creepy ass dream with the light and then when I passed out after my fight with Mordechai. It's hard to explain but I'm…I get dizzy sometimes and ugh…the fight with Mordechai well I remember it. I remember how Sam looked at me, like he was afraid of me. Like he didn't see Melody standing there in the hallway but someone else. I remember I felt something take me over, kind of like when mothers lift cars off their kids you know like, adrenaline rush or something? Well I felt that but only billions of times stronger and it felt completely natural. The strength the…fury that took over felt like it was just me, a part of me. God it's terrifying thinking about it._

_Anyways the uh the thing dad sent us after. It was a shtriga. And according to Dean it was something dad hunted-and failed hunting-when we were kids. Thinking back…I can kind of remember it. Sam and I had fallen asleep; dad was out on a hunt. Dean told us that he left that night, went to play some arcade game in the motel lobby. When he came back that…shtriga thing was hanging over us. Apparently it got to me first then went for Sam. I remember dad shaking me awake, nearly crying with Sam next to him and Dean was standing in the doorway._

_We killed it, nearly got this other kid killed though. But we handled it. Now we're moving north, heading to upstate New York. I should probably stop soon; I'm starting to feel a little dizzy again._

* * *

_July 29, 2006_

_Well we finally met up with dad again. We took out a nest of vamps here in Colorado and he has the colt-well we have the colt now. It's a special gun, made by Samuel Colt himself. It can kill anything. I watched it kill this vamp, take him out with one shot to the head…turned the thing into dust. Now we finally have something to kill that damn demon with and end all of this crap. _

_This whole hunt was just…ugh Sam questioning everything dad decided to do. I really wanted to punch him or…slap him or whatever but seriously it was just like when we were all together before Sam went to college. He was all angry at us because we were "falling in line" with dad's orders. Honestly can Sam not trust dad enough? Dad knows what he's doing; I trust dad's "orders". I mean, Dean and I had to act as the freaking peace keepers between dad and Sam…talk about frustrating._

_But…he did have a point. I just could not see myself leaving dad again. Not after what we've been through, not after I'm finding out what we're going to go through. And this whole dizziness, fury and weird strength thing. I have to tell dad. Maybe he knows about it, knows what's wrong with me. I need to talk to Sammy about it too. I have to know what he saw that made him look so afraid of me._

_Anyways dad gave in after we saved his ass from the vamps by not listening to him. Honestly I think it was the first time I've ever not listened to what dad told me to do. Well everyone is waking up now; I haven't been able to sleep much since the fight with Mordechai. I need coffee…_

* * *

Melody sighed and closed her journal. Looking around she saw her dad hanging up the last of his papers onto the walls of the motel room they were staying in. "How many of those pages have you got?" she asked looking around at the walls which were practically covered-floor to ceiling-by scraps of papers.

"Not nearly enough," John glanced back at his daughter. He noticed her journal sitting on the table, held shut by a silver buckle. Melody chewed her lip and reached up, fiddling with her necklace and the ring that sat on its chain.

"Dad?" she began, voice wavering only slightly.

John knew something was bothering her, he could tell by how tense her shoulders looked. Moving over he sat down at the table next to her, "What's wrong Mel?"

"Um…okay let me…" she let out a huff of frustrated air and rubbed at her tired eyes, "We told you about the hell house right? With that tulpa and those hellhound guys?"

"Dean mentioned it briefly." John nodded and then scrunched his brow at her, "Why? What's up?"

Melody ran a hand through her gold and yellow hair, pulling it over one shoulder she began running her fingers through it nervously, "Well I fought Mordechai—the tulpa. It had me up against a wall and I was chocking and…and something took me over…"

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain. It felt like I just had this—burst of strength and I kicked it to the other wall, even the damn tulpa looked surprised."

John grabbed her hands, stopping her from messing anymore with her hair and said gently, "Melody there's more to it. Tell me everything."

She chewed her lip, jaw clenching she explained, "Sam and Dean came around the corner and got me out of there before the tulpa could really do some damage but…the way Sam looked at me when he saw me in that hallway. Dad it's like he was terrified of me, like he didn't see his sister for a second. After we got out of the house, I passed out and ever since I've been getting a little dizzy and—and I can hardly sleep but daddy it…"

Melody sighed and closed her eyes, afraid of what he would say to her next statement, "It felt so natural. The strength the…anger. It felt like it was me, like…like I've had that in me all along."

John went to say something but was stopped when his sons came into the room carrying coffee and breakfast. Looking down at his daughter, John mumbled, "We'll talk about it later."

Nodding and stealing herself, Melody greeted her brothers warmly and they all shared a quick meal together. After cleaning up, John got down to business, although keeping a wary eye on his daughter.

"So, this is it," John said gesturing to the covered walls, "this is everything I know. Look, our whole lives we've been searching for this demon right? Not a trace, just nothing, until about a year ago. For the first time, I picked up a trail."

"That's when you took off," Dean said standing behind his sister who was still seated at the table and fiddling with her necklace.

John nodded, "Yeah, that's right. The demon must have come out of hiding or hibernation."

"All right so, what's this trail you found?" Dean asked him glancing down at the scattered papers on the table.

John began to explain, "It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, California. Houses burn down to the ground. It's going after families, just like it went after us."

"Families with infants?" Sam asked from his seat against the counters.

"Yeah," John nodded, "the night of the kid's six month birthday."

Sam felt his brows raise up, "I was six months old that night?"

"Exactly six months." Melody glanced up at Dean; neither of them knew about that little detail.

"So, basically," Sam tried to understand, "this demon is going after these kids for some reason. Same way it came for me?"

John had no answer for him and Sam continued, "So, mom's death, Jessica—it's all cause of me?"

"We don't know that Sam." Dean tried to help his younger brother but only got a clipped, angry response.

"Oh really? Cause I'd say we're pretty damn sure Dean!"

Melody rubbed at her tired eyes while Dean answered him with a slightly frustrated voice, "For the last time, what happened to them is not your fault."

Sam only scoffed, "Yeah you're right, it's not my fault but it's my problem!"

Fed up with her little brother Melody turned in her chair to face him, "No it's not your problem Sam, it's _our_ problem!"

"Okay, that's enough." John's 'dad' voice took over stopping his children from arguing and yelling at each other any further. He stood and gave them all a pointed look as an awkward, tense silence came over them.

Sam sighed and ignored how his siblings had just yelled at him. Standing up from the counter he put his hands on his hips, "So why is it doing it? What does it want?"

Melody ran her fingers through her hair again, scratching at her scalp trying to calm herself down as their dad answered Sam, "I wish I had more answers. I do. I've always been one step behind it. Look, I've never gotten there in time to save…"

John trailed off, defeated and afraid that what he was going to say would upset his youngest son even more. Dean leaned against the back of a chair next to his sister, giving her a quick, concerned glance. He had noticed how different she had been acting since her fight with the tulpa. Of course he had seen her eyes that night too. He didn't know what to think about it. Sam saw it too, and neither had talked about their sister's behavior-or her creepy eye trick-since that night.

"All right so," Dean said shaking himself out of his internal thoughts and bringing everyone in the room back on track, "how do we find it before it hits again?"

"There are signs." John nodded at his oldest and then explained, "Look, it took me a while to see the pattern, but in the days before these fires, signs crop up in an area—cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms. And then I went back and checked, and…"

Sitting up straighter Melody felt a wave of understanding hit her when she realized what her dad was talking about. "These things happened in Lawrence." She said as John slowly nodded his head in confirmation at her.

"The week before your mother died." He looked over at Sam, "And in Palo Alto…before Jessica. And these signs—they're starting again."

"Where?" Sam asked, holding back a mess of tears when he thought about Jess.

"Salvation, Iowa."

* * *

"Dad, are we going to talk about, you know…what I told you about in Colorado," Melody asked her father from the passenger seat of his pick-up truck. John Winchester glanced over at his daughter and sighed,

"When we get to the motel, I'll sit your brothers down and we'll all talk about it."

Melody nodded quickly, sucking in her bottom lip she glanced out the window. "Do you have any idea what…what might be wrong with me?"

"There is nothing wrong with you Melody," John said quickly and a bit harshly. His daughter popped her mouth shut, grabbing her mother's ring and twisting it between her fingers. Sighing John reached over the small distance between himself and his only daughter. Gently he pulled on her ear, eliciting a small smile from her. It always used to be the only way he would show affection toward her.

"Did I ever tell you about the day you were born?"

Melody shook her head at him and John looked back out at the road, a fond smile coming over his face as he began his story, "By the time we got your mother to the hospital, it was already too late to give her any pain killers or anything. She had to give birth to you the traditional way," John laughed, "I thought she was going to pull my hand off. She didn't scream…your mother was a fighter. And she fought tooth and nail to bring you into this world."

He glanced over at her, "When you came out, you didn't cry at all. You just opened up those big eyes, looked around the room. And you looked right at me—and I know people say that newborns can't see as soon as they're born but, I swear you looked right in my eyes. And you smiled, you smiled up at me…and I just said, 'hey Melody, I'm your father'. Then your mom held you and…and you had me wrapped around your little finger from the first time I saw you."

Melody smiled at him and unbuckled her seatbelt. Moving over to the middle seat she laid her head against her father's shoulder, "Still got you wrapped around my finger?" she asked him. John looked down at her and wrapped an arm around her,

"You always will squirt." John smiled at his daughter as she closed her eyes in contentment. Melody felt a lot better now that she was with her father. And after hearing the story, whether it was true or not, it made her realize how much of a father her dad _wanted_ to be. Whether she was just "falling in line" like Sam had said a few days ago or not…Melody didn't really care. She loved her father, even all of his faults and mistakes.

She opened her mouth, ready to ask him more about the day she was born but was stopped when her father's phone started ringing. Sitting up, Melody watched her father answer the phone, his face growing dark and serious.

"You're sure…dammit, alright. Thanks Caleb." He hung up the phone and began pulling off the side of the road.

"Dad? What's wrong?" she asked him as he got out. Concerned Melody followed him out of the car as he walked around to the back. Sam and Dean pulled the Impala to a stop and quickly got out, worry etched on their faces as well.

John slammed his car door, "Son of a bitch."

"What is it?" Dean asked him throwing his arms out at his sides.

Melody stood next to her father and crossed her arms over her chest as he explained, "I just got a call from Caleb."

"Is he okay?" Dean questioned and John shook his head,

"He's fine. Jim Murphy's dead."

Melody felt her heart drop. Father Jim Murphy had been the one to baptize her and her brothers. He had even given the kids their first communion, and their confirmation. Father Murphy had helped Melody through the most difficult of times in her life, serving as both a mentor and a friend.

"Pastor Jim?" Sam couldn't believe it either and when his father only nodded slowly he squinted his eyes, "How?"

"Throat was slashed. He bled out." The Winchester children exchanged surprised, shocked and hurt looks. John let them take in the information for a moment and then continued, "Caleb said they found traces of sulfur at Jim's place."

"A demon." Melody said and watched her father's face, eyes widening when she saw his eyes, "_The_ demon?"

"I don't know," John shrugged, "could be he just got careless. He slipped up…maybe the demon knows we're getting close."

"What do we want to do?" Dean took the lead for his siblings who were both a bit too shocked to come up with any plans.

"Now we act like every second counts. There are two hospitals and a health center in this county. We split up. We cover more ground. I want records. I want a list of every infant that's gonna be six months old in the next week."

Dean and his sister nodded in understanding with their father while Sam scoffed, "Dad that could be dozens of kids. How the hell are we gonna know which one is the right one?"

"We'll check them all. That's how. You got any better ideas?" John answered back frustrated with Sam. Melody had to hold her tongue. She knew the youngest Winchester was just worried, and wanted every detail before heading off, but she also knew why dad was so frustrated. One of the family friends had just been murdered—probably because of them.

"No, sir." Sam answered obediently. The family paused and then moved. Sam and Dean went to get back in the car but Melody lingered. She could tell dad was upset, and when he stopped and leaned against the bed of his truck she walked up to him and put a hand on his arm. Dean noticed too,

"Dad?" he called back to him concerned.

"Yeah," John said looking back at his son then reached up and patted Melody's hand affectionately, "It's Jim. You know I can't…" he trailed off as he felt a lump form in his throat. Melody was about to say that everything would work out but stopped. Because deep down inside her…something told her that it wouldn't work out—not like they all hoped.

Stealing himself John spoke again in a smoother voice, "This ends now. I'm ending it. I don't care what it takes." Before he walked away he looked down at his daughter, "Melody, go with your brothers."

"But dad I—"

"Do as I say Melody Jean." He ordered harshly. Nodding, Melody chewed on her lip and backed up a few steps before turning around and walking past Dean to get into the back of the Impala not uttering a word until they pulled into town.

* * *

"A vision?" John Winchester asked leaning his elbows on his knees as he sat at the edge of one of the two twin beds in the room. Dean sat on the bed next to him and both were watching Sam rub his forehead, wincing. Melody sat down at the table next to her little brother, handing him a glass of ice water as he sighed and nodded,

"Yes. I saw the demon burning a woman on the ceiling." He reached out for the glass of water as John questioned,

"And you think it's gonna happen to this woman you met because?"

Sam set down the glass, "Because these things happen exactly the way I see them."

Dean moved to explain; standing from his spot on the bed, "It started out as nightmares…" he trailed off moving to the kitchenette to begin making his brother some coffee.

Melody rubbed Sam's back gently and finished for Dean, "Then he started having them while he was awake."

"Yeah it's like, I don't know," Sam grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose, "the closer I get to anything involving the demon, the stronger the visions get."

"All right, when were you gonna tell me about this?" John asked the older of the Winchester kids.

Melody only answered by shrugging and chewing on her lip and Dean shrugged, "We didn't know what it meant."

"Well, something like this starts happening to your brother, you pick up the phone and you call me." John clipped back, angry at his kids especially Dean-the oldest-for not thinking about this earlier.

Dean clenched his jaw and set down whatever he had been messing with, "Call you?" he turned around and walked toward his dad, "Are you kidding me? Dad I called you from Lawrence. Sam called you when I was dying. And I know for a fact that Mels has called and left plenty of her own messages. All right, getting you on the phone—I got a better chance of winning the lottery."

John watched his kids. Dean kept his eyes locked with him, Sam and Melody shared a wary look before looking down at the table top. "You're right." John nodded at his oldest, "Although I'm not real crazy about this new tone of yours, you're right. I'm sorry."

"Look guys," Sam muttered, "visions or no visions. The fact is we know the demon is coming tonight. And this family's gonna go through the same hell we went through."

"No, they're not." John said determinately, "No one is…ever again."

They all paused and Dean sighed, he knew he and Sam had to tell them. Now that they were all in the same room and not fighting, he had to take his chance. Looking down at Sam he asked, "Should we tell them?"

Sam nodded while John asked, "Tell us what?"

"Dad it's…it's about Melody," Sam began, looking over at his big sister who didn't look scared or anxious. She knew and when he looked back at his father…

"I know." John said from his seat. Dean looked back and forth between them,

"Wait…Melody you know what happened to you?"

"Well…I know I got really strong for a second and…angry," she crossed her arms over her chest, "It freaked me out that's for sure."

"There's more than just that," Sam said looking between everyone then resting his eyes on his sister, "Melody it was your eyes."

She raised a brow at him, "My eyes?"

"Yeah they were all…silver—reflective almost." Sam explained to her, and only got a look of slight fear from her. Melody looked over at her father, begging him without words for an explanation but John could not give her one. She opened her mouth but was interrupted by Sam's shrilling ring tone coming from the table top.

Melody buried her face in her hands while Sam answered his phone, feeling Dean stand behind her and place a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hello?" Sam asked into the phone.

"_Sam?"_

He squinted, "Who is this?"

"_Think real hard. It'll come to you"_

And he did…and it did. "Meg." At that name, the rest of the Winchester family tensed. Glancing at his siblings Sam continued, "Last time I saw you, you fell out of a window."

"_Yeah thanks to you. That really hurt my feelings by the way."_

"Just your feelings?" Sam asked her, his father slowly standing from his place at the bed. "That was a seven story drop."

Meg ignored him, _"Let me speak to your dad."_

Sam glanced at John, "My dad," he shook his head, "I don't know where my dad is."

"_It's time for the grown-ups to talk, Sam. Let me speak to him now."_

John held out his hand and Sam slowly gave up the phone. Melody watched her father take a few steps away from them as he pressed the phone to his ear,

"This is John." He paused as Meg spoke to him from the other end, "I'm here." John grumbled and Melody, curious and concerned slowly stood from her chair watching her father's back the whole time. She walked up to her older brother, standing close to him seeking a sort of stable place with the tension that was growing in the room.

"Caleb?" their dad exclaimed which got the attention of the Winchester kids. Melody grabbed Dean's arm out of anxiety and he gently put his hand over hers trying to keep her calm. "Caleb…you listen to me. He's got nothing to do with anything. You let him go."

They had Caleb. Melody felt a rush of panic go through her. If the demons had gone after Jim first and now Caleb…who would be next? She watched her father shake his head, "I don't know what you're talking about." Again he paused as Meg spoke and then he clenched a fist, "Caleb? Caleb!"

He slowly turned to face his children as Meg talked on the other end. Taking in a deep breath he said, "I'm gonna kill you. You know that?" John walked forward a few steps, rubbing a hand down his face. He stopped, muscles working in his cheeks as he listened and then after he paused for a moment he muttered, "Okay."

"I said okay. I'll bring you the colt." He cast his eyes downwards, avoiding the looks he got from his kids. John waited and then shook his head, "It's gonna take me about a day's drive to get there…that's impossible. I can't get there in time, and I can't just carry a gun on a plane."

With his jaw clenching John hung up the phone. He breathed in and out a few times then handed Sam back the device. "That demon is a real bitch."

Sam stuffed the phone in his pocket and stood from his seat. Dean and Melody walked forward to stand next to their brother. "You think Meg is a demon?" Sam asked putting his hands in his pockets.

"Either that or she's possessed by one." John answered and shook his head, "It doesn't really matter."

"What do we do?" Dean took the lead on trying to come up with a plan but was unaware that his father already had one,

"I'm going to Lincoln." He said and received three sets of wide, surprised eyes staring at him.

Melody stepped forward along with Dean, "What?" she exclaimed crossing her arms over her chest.

"It doesn't seem like I have a choice. If I don't go, a lot of people die. Our friends die."

"Dad, the demon is coming tonight for Monica and her family," Sam insisted, "that gun is all we got you can't just hand it over."

"Who said anything about handing it over? Look, besides us and a couple vampires, no one's really seen the gun. No one knows what it looks like."

Dean scoffed at his dad, "So what, you're just gonna pick up a ringer at a pawn shop?"

John shrugged, "Antique store."

"Dad," Melody's voice took on an incredulous tone, "you're gonna hand Meg a fake gun and hope she doesn't notice?"

"Look as long as it's close," John explained slowly, "she shouldn't be able to tell the difference."

"Okay sure but for how long?" Melody asked him throwing her arms out at her sides.

"And what happens when she figures it out?" Dean questioned as well, mimicking his sister and tossing his arms out at his sides.

"I just—I just need to buy a few hours, that's all."

Sam was the first to connect the dots when he heard his dad say that he needed to 'buy a few hours'. "You mean for Mel, Dean and me…you want us to stay here and kill this demon by ourselves."

"No, Sam." John explained, "I want to stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school. I—I want Dean to have a home, I want Melody to have a family." He faced away from them, Melody could tell he was fighting back his emotions as he spoke next, voice wavering, "I want Mary alive."

He looked back at them with red-rimmed eyes, "I just…I just want this to be over."

* * *

Melody pulled her leather bomber jacket closed. The cold winds of Colorado cutting through her, or maybe it was because she felt drained…she couldn't really tell. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Dean pulling up in the Impala. Sam and their father closed up the bed of his truck after checking over his weapon inventory. Melody stuffed her hands into her pockets and flanked her dad along with Sam on either side of him.

Dean got out of the car, door squeaking at him. "Did you get it?" John asked him. Coming around to the front of his car he stood in front of his family and reached into his jacket, pulling out a paper bag. He handed the bag to John's open hand and watched as he quickly pulled back the brown paper to reveal a six-shooter that resembled the colt they had. Only their gun had intricate engravings on the side, the one John currently had in his hands was plain and simple.

"You know this is a trap don't you? That's why Meg wants you to come alone." Dean said making sure to look his father in the eyes.

John nodded, "I can handle her. I got a whole arsenal loaded—holy water, mandaic amulets—"

"Dad…" Dean sighed and John looked up from his hands,

"What?"

"Promise me something."

"What's that?"

Melody watched the muscles twitch in Dean's cheeks as he began, "This thing goes south, just get the hell out. Don't get yourself killed alright? You're no good to us dead."

John tried to give him a small grin but it didn't reach his face, and he only frowned deeply, "Same goes for you." He looked around at his kids and took in a breath, "Alright, listen to me. They made the bullets special for this colt. There are only four of them left. Without them, this gun is useless. You make every shot count."

Sam and Melody nodded, "Yes, sir."

"I've been waiting a long time for this fight." John said looking up at his oldest son, "Now it's here, and I'm not gonna be in it. It's up to you three now. It's your fight. You finish this. You finish what I started. You understand?"

The Winchester children exchanged nods of understanding with each other and their father. John, satisfied that they understood handed the colt to Dean. Sam took in a breath, "We'll see you soon dad."

John looked at his oldest son, who only clenched his jaw. Nodding at Dean, John glanced at Sam and put a firm hand on his shoulder, "I'll see you later."

Sam joined his brother as their dad walked around to the driver side of his truck. "Dad?" Melody called out jogging over to him. She stopped in front of her father and chewed her lip before throwing her arms around his neck, "Be careful."

John hugged his daughter, placing a hand on the back of her head he kissed her the top of it gently and pulled back, "Make sure your brothers don't do anything stupid."

Melody smiled nervously and backed up to stand by her brothers as they watched their father's truck drive off. As the black truck disappeared around the road Dean sighed, "See you later."

* * *

Melody leaned back in her seat. Dean and Sam sat in the front of the Impala quietly, the colt and a map of the county sitting between them. "Maybe we can tell them there's a gas leak," Sam suggested, "might get them out of the house for a few hours."

Chewing on her bottom lip Melody looked out the window at the house they were parked across from. Monica and her family were sitting at the dinner table, eating happily and smiling with each other. Melody felt an ounce of jealousy at the sight but didn't say anything.

Dean shrugged at his brother, "Yeah and how many times has that actually worked for us?"

Sam gave him a yielding nod and then tried again, "We could always just tell them the truth."

Melody snorted while Dean looked over at Sam, "Nah."

"I know, I know." Sam gave in, "I just—with what's coming for these people…"

"Sam, we only got one move, and you know it, alright?" Dean said to his brother gently, "We got to wait for that demon to show itself, and then we get it before it gets them."

The siblings went back to watching the house. After a brief moment Sam sighed, "I wonder how dad's doing."

Running a hand through her hair Melody clenched her jaw, "Honestly, I'd feel a hell of a lot better if we were there backing him up."

Sam let out a humorless laugh, "I'd feel a lot better if he were here backing us up."

About an hour later—maybe two, Melody had nearly fallen asleep five times. She took off her leather jacket, hoping the cold air would help her stay awake. Now she was left in a light gray long sleeved shirt, dark white washed skinny jeans and her brown boots. She felt a chill run up her arms as Sam let out a nervous breath of air, "This is weird."

Concerned, Melody leaned over the front seat in between her brothers as Dean asked him, "What?"

Sam shrugged, "After all these years, we're finally here. It doesn't seem real."

"We just got to keep our heads and do our job like always." Dean said looking back at the house.

"Yeah," Sam nodded, "but this isn't like always."

Dean looked back at him and Melody shrugged, "That's true."

"Guys uh…" Sam swallowed as his siblings looked at him, waiting for what he had to say. "I want to thank you."

"For what?" Dean felt his brow crease. Melody gave her little brother an equally confused look as he explained,

"You two have just…you've always had my back, you know? Even when I couldn't count on anyone, I could always count on you two. And now…I don't know. I just wanted to let you guys know, just in case."

Melody understood and gently patted his shoulder. Dean however, did not like what his brother had said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you kidding me?"

"What?" Sam and Melody asked him, confused.

Dean scoffed and answered back in a frustrated tone, "Don't say just in case something happens to you. I don't want to hear that freakin speech man. Nobody's dying tonight. Not us, not that family, nobody…except that demon. That evil son of a bitch isn't getting any older than tonight. You understand me?"

They fell into a tense, awkward silence. Melody understood why Dean was acting the way he was. He just didn't like the idea of any family member dying. He had always had a hard time with accepting the death of a loved one. Even their own mother, who has been dead for years, is still a sensitive subject for Dean. And usually if someone said anything remotely negative about her…it would get his temper going.

Sighing, Dean pulled out his phone and tried for their father. He let it ring a few times but, defeated flipped his phone shut, "Dad's not answering."

Melody chewed her lip, fighting back the trembles of nerves that crawled through her stomach. Sam noticing both her and Dean's unease tried to keep them calm, "Maybe Meg was late. Maybe cell reception's bad."

"Yeah, well…" Dean shrugged and looked back up at the house. Sharing a scared, worried look with her youngest brother Melody fought back a sigh knowing that it would just bring out more anxiety in Dean and herself. She was about to ask Dean to try again but stopped when she heard strange crackling static coming from the car radio. Sam noticed it too, and both stared down at the dashboard as the lights of the radio console flickered to life.

"Dean…" Melody said softly, drawing the attention of her brother. He glanced over as Sam reached down and started messing with the radio dials. The static jumped and cracked from frequency to frequency. Melody felt a chill run down her spine and stared out the windows. The wind had suddenly picked up, the air turned stale and cold. The lights of Monica's home flickered on and off repeatedly as leaves danced through the air.

The Winchester siblings shared a tense look and Sam swallowed hard before saying what they all knew, "It's coming."

They sprang into action, getting out of the Impala quickly. Walking up to the house they made sure to keep low and quiet. Dean picked the lock in record time and held open the door as his younger siblings snuck into the house. Walking through the home, it seemed almost too quiet to Melody. She glanced back only to find herself being shoved away by her oldest brother as a wooden bat came swinging into her view.

"Get out of my house!" the man shouted, shattering a table lamp in the process. He reared back and swung aiming for Dean who caught it deftly and turned his attacker around, shoving him against a wall using the bat as leverage.

"Mr. Holt, please." Sam begged him as Dean tried to calm Mr. Holt down,

"Be quiet and listen to me—be quiet and listen to me," Holt looked at Dean with wide, fearful eyes and he continued, "we're trying to help you, okay?"

They heard a woman's voice, Monica, call from the second floor, "Charlie, is everything okay down there?"

Charlie Holt didn't hesitate and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Monica get the baby!"

"No!" Melody shouted while Sam cried up at her,

"Don't go in the nursery!" Without hesitating, Sam and Melody shot up the stairs.

Charlie panicked, "You stay away from her!" But Melody wasn't listening; she had to get to the nursery. They had to stop and kill this demon. Running behind her brother she saw him whip out the colt and heard a thump and then frightened whimpering.

"Shit," Melody cursed as the came around a second corner. There at the end of the hall in what she assumed was the nursery, stood a shadowed figure looming over the crib. Sam and Melody came to a stop at the door, staring down at the demon as Monica sobbed from the ceiling,

"Rosie!"

The room was deathly cold and the air so heavy, Melody could hardly breathe. She gripped her brothers shoulders, seeking a solid ground and felt pure terror explode in her stomach. The light in the room caught the demon just right, showing them only his eyes. Yellow, sickly, dead…evil. Those were the only ways that Melody could describe those eyes as they bore down on her and Sam.

Stealing himself, Sam raised the pistol in his hands and fired. The demon puffed away into black wisps of smoke, moonlight streaming through the bullet hole in the wall. Monica screamed as she fell to the floor.

"What?!" Melody cried out.

"Where the hell did it go?" Sam shouted to no one in particular then looked down at Monica who was sobbing,

"My baby! Rosie!" She stood to get her daughter but Sam stopped her, wrapping his arms around her and preventing her from moving. Melody ran up to the crib and quickly pulled all of the pink blankets into a bundle around the small baby.

"Go!" she shouted back at Sam as Dean came into the room and started pulling Monica with his brother. Ignoring the wails coming from the pink bundle, Melody buried Rosie's little face into her shoulder and ran out of the nursery after her brothers. She heard a small boom and glanced back, the crib and nursery had burst into flames. They were almost out of time. Pumping her legs harder, Melody bounded down the stairs with little Rosie buried in her arms.

She felt the second half of the explosion. It was ten times larger than the first and fifty times hotter. The house filled with smoke and everyone started coughing and wheezing as they fought their way out of the smoke filled home.

Finally with Dean's guiding hands they exited the house. "You get away from my family!" Charlie Holt ordered angrily but Monica quickly stopped him,

"No, Charlie don't!" she panted and looked back at the Winchesters, "They saved us." Melody walked up to Monica and gently handed Rosie to her. Sobbing with relief or fear-Melody wasn't quite sure-Monica took her baby and gripped the bundle tightly. Charlie pulled his wife and daughter to him. Monica sniffled and looked at the siblings, "Th-thank you."

The Winchesters looked back up at the burning home and found their eyes drawn to the heart of the fire-the nursery. There standing in the flames was the black figure…the demon. Melody felt a chill crawl across her skin.

Sam could only sneer, "It's still in there." Dean and his sister shared a quick look and gripped their brother's arms before he could run back into the house.

"Sammy!" Melody cried as Dean grunted,

"Sam, no!"

He fought against them, "Let me go! It's still in there!"

Dean gave him a good, hard shove and yelled at him, "It's burning to the ground—it's suicide!"

"I don't care!" Sam shouted back and felt Melody slam her hands onto his chest, sending him back a few steps. For a moment-and for Sam this was in the blink of an eye-Melody's eyes went to those silver discs.

"We do!" she screamed at him and breathed hard through her snarling mouth. Melody blinked and her eyes were back to normal. Sam looked back up at the nursery as did his siblings. They all saw the black figure staring down at them before it disappeared into the fire.

* * *

Melody chewed on her bottom lip, fiddled with her mother's ring and watched Dean pace the motel room. "Come on dad, answer your phone dammit." He grumbled and shut his phone.

"Something's wrong," Melody mumbled staring up at her big brother. He only nodded at her and watched as she moved off to stand by the sink. Sighing, Melody splashed her face with cold water as she heard Dean say to Sam,

"Hey, you hear us? Something's happened."

"If you had just let me go in there," Sam began, his voice coated with anger, "I could have ended all this."

Melody leaned her hands against the sink and kept her back to her brothers. She did not want to be a part of this conversation, she was afraid she might really hurt Sam. He was beginning to get on her last nerve.

"Sam," Dean said to him gently, "the only thing you would have ended was your life."

"You don't know that." Sam challenged looking up at his brother from his spot on the bed.

Fed up, frustrated and terrified of what might have happened to her father, Melody turned around and scoffed at Sam, "Don't start that righteous hero bullshit Sam."

Dean ignored her and clenched his fist around his phone, "So what, you're just willing to sacrifice yourself? Is that it?"

Sam gave his sister a furious glare then stood up to his full height and answered Dean, "Yeah, you're damn right I am."

Melody rolled her eyes at him and Dean shot back quickly, "Yeah, well that's not gonna happen—not as long as I'm around."

"What the hell are you talking about, Dean?" Sam threw out his arms, "We've been searching for this demon our whole lives. It's the only thing we've ever cared about."

"Sam, I want to waste it. I do, okay?" Dean tried to calm him down while trying to get his little brother to see reason, "But it's not worth dying over."

"What?" Sam looked almost shocked at his brother. Melody felt her hands ball into fists and clenched her jaw. She wanted to hit something so bad, it was killing her.

"I mean it," Dean said firmly, "if hunting this demon means you getting yourself killed, then I hope we never find the damn thing."

Sam pointed his arm outwards, "That _thing_ killed Jess. That thing killed mom."

Dean steeled himself, readying for the fire he would get for saying what he was about to mumble, "You said yourself once that no matter what we do, they're gone. And they're never coming back."

Snarling, Sam grabbed Dean by the collar of his shirt and slammed his back into the wall. "Don't you say that! Not you…not after all this, don't you say that."

Fighting a quivering lip and tears Dean whispered, "Sam look…the four of us—that's all we have. And it's all I have." Sam slowly released his brother fighting back tears of his own as Dean continued, "Sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding it together, man. Without you and Mels and dad…"

Melody felt her jaw unclench and her hands relax. She walked up to Sam as he rubbed his face and walked away from Dean. "Dad…" he sighed and put his hands on his hips, "Uh…he should have called by now. Try him again."

Without a word Dean dialed the number. The line rang several times until it was finally picked up.

"_You kiddos really screwed up this time."_

Dean felt his heart fall into his stomach. Looking up at his siblings for some form of grounding or support he fought back a quivering voice as he slowly asked, "Where is he?" Melody gasped and gripped Sam's arm tightly. She knew exactly what that look on her big brothers face meant. And it wasn't good.

Meg giggled on the other line, _"You're never gonna see your father again."_

* * *

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	12. Bobby Singer

**Do you all hate me for the last cliffhanger? :) I know, I'm horrible but, I just finished up this new chapter and added a few new songs to the Carry On playlist. The link is on my profile if you are interested at all, also some kind of cool news. I'll be starting up a tumblr page for my stories. I will post fanart that I create and you can all ask me questions and stuff on there if you'd like. I'll let you all know when it's set up :) Okay! I'll stop talking now, enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

"_You kiddos really screwed up this time."_

Dean felt his heart fall into his stomach. Looking up at his siblings for some form of grounding or support he fought back a quivering voice as he slowly asked, "Where is he?" Melody gasped and gripped Sam's arm tightly. She knew exactly what that look on her big brothers face meant. And it wasn't good.

Meg giggled on the other line, _"You're never gonna see your father again."_

The line went dead. Dean felt his whole body quiver with fear as he closed his phone, "They've got dad." He started pacing, anxious, nervous, tense and even terrified. Melody felt her stomach flip and covered her mouth with her hands, stifling a whimper as Sam questioned,

"Meg?" At his brother's slow, confirming nod he asked, "What did she say?"

"I just told you, Sammy." Dean answered him quickly. Stuffing his phone into his pocket he tried to keep himself stable. He needed to be solid and acting with a clear head for his younger siblings. Running a hand down his face he sighed, "Okay…okay."

Walking toward the bed side table he picked up the colt, stared at it for half a second then stuffed the gun into the back of his pants. "What are you doing, Dean?" Sam asked him as Dean moved over to his bag.

"We got to go," he said pulling the bag shut messily. He looked up at his younger sister, "Mels get your things."

Melody nodded and quickly found her bag thrown on the floor. She bent down and stuffed what few items she had into the duffle, pulling on her leather jacket while Sam just stood still, "Why?" he asked looking between his older siblings.

Sighing, Melody stood up and put her bag down on the bed next to Dean's and grumbled at Sam, "Because the demon knows we're in Salvation."

Dean pulled on his coat, "Sammy it knows we've got the colt. It's got dad. It's probably coming for us next."

"Good," Sam bent down to catch Dean's eye, "we've still got three bullets left—"

Frustrated and scared Dean stood up straight and stared at his little brother, "Listen, tough guy, we're not ready. We don't know how many of them are out there. We're no good to anybody dead."

Dean went back to closing his bag while Melody slung hers across her shoulders, "We're leaving," she gritted her teeth at Sam, "_now_."

* * *

Melody gripped the seat, finger nails digging into the leather as Dean peeled around the corner. Impala tires screeching at him in protest, but Dean ignored them and pushed the car harder and harder. As the car straightened out Melody leaned her forehead on the leather of the front seat. This night was just too much…

Sam let out a harsh breath, "I'm telling you two…we could've taken him."

Keeping his eyes focused on the road Dean ignored his brother while Melody sat up straight and rubbed her heavy eyes, "What we need is a plan."

Dean nodded in agreement, "They're probably keeping dad alive. We've just got to figure out where. They're gonna want to trade him for the gun."

Melody chewed her lip, "Right."

Sam did not answer him causing his siblings to look over at him. Dean, noticing Sam's reluctant face asked, "What?"

Sighing, Sam began to explain his hesitancy, "If that were true, why didn't Meg mention a trade? Dad he might be—"

"Don't."

"No way." Dean and Melody said over each other, both afraid and not wanting to listen to that possibility. Sam continued, trying to help his siblings see reason,

"Look, I don't want to believe it any more than you guys, but if he is…all the more reason to kill this damn thing. We still have the colt. We can still finish the job."

"Screw the job Sam!" Melody shouted, angry and afraid she threw herself backwards in her seat and lowered herself down. She was practically lying down in the back, hands over her face, fighting back fearful tears as Sam continued, not seeing or not caring how distressed his sister was.

"Melody, I'm just trying to do what he would want. Dean he would want us to keep going."

"Would you quit talking about him like he's dead already?" Dean shouted, shutting his brother up, "Listen to me. Everything stops until we get him back. You understand me? _Everything_."

A tense silence fell over the car and its passengers. Sam sighed after a brief moment and said quietly, "So, how do we find him?"

"Maybe we go to Lincoln." Dean tried throwing out the first idea that came to his mind, "Start at the warehouse where he was taken."

"Come on Dean, you really think these demons are gonna leave a trail?"

Dean clenched his jaw at his brother and let out a harsh breath, "You're right."

Slowly getting back into her seat Melody sighed, "We need help."

* * *

By the time the sun rose over the horizon, Dean was pulling into Singer Salvage Yard. The car came to a stop in the homely junkyard. The home that served as the centerpiece of the scrap yard was slightly run down but sturdy. Rusting hubcaps from various cars hung on the outside walls, placed sporadically against the wooden structure. There was a large, sky blue tow truck sitting in front of the house with a lazy Rottweiler chained by the foot to the hood.

Melody got out of the car and quickly walked up the steps to the door and started pounding on the dark wood. "Who is it?" she heard a gruff, salty voice call from the other side.

"Bobby it's Melody Winchester! I'm here with my brothers! Please, we need your help!"

The door was thrust open and standing in front of her was an older man, roughly in his early fifties in a worn ball cap and scruffy beard. A plaid shirt was open over a dark grey t-shirt and faded blue jeans fell over used work boots.

"Melody," looking over her shoulder, Bobby saw her brothers standing by the car, "boys…what's going on?"

"It's our dad Bobby…he…he's been taken." Bobby stopped her, hearing her quivering voice and not wanting to deal with tears this early in the morning he quickly pulled her and her brothers into his house.

Sam immediately went for Bobby's book collection while Dean and Melody stood next to each other hands buried in their pockets. Coming out of his kitchen, Bobby picked up two flasks and handed one to the oldest Winchester. "Here you go."

Dean looked at the silver flask, one side was plain and the other had a cross engraved into it, "What is this—holy water?"

"That one is," Bobby held up the flask in his hand, "this is whiskey." He took a swing, winching at the burn in his throat. Grumbling, Melody took the flask from his hands and took a large gulp of her own before handing it to Dean.

"Bobby thanks. Thanks for everything." Dean handed him back the whiskey and continued, "To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if we should come."

"Nonsense," Bobby shrugged, "your daddy needs help."

Melody let out a breathy laugh, "But Bobby last time we saw you…you threatened to blast dad full of buckshot."

Dean nodded and chuckled, "You cocked the shotgun and everything."

"Yeah, well what can I say." Bobby sighed with his hands on his hips, "John just has that effect on people."

"Yeah, I guess he does," Dean slowly smiled at him. Bobby waved a hand through the air,

"I guess none of that matters now. All that matters is that you get him back."

Melody and Dean both nodded at him while Sam chuckled from the corner of the room, surrounded by open books, "Bobby this book…I've never seen anything like it."

"Key of Solomon?" Bobby walked over to the desk Sam was seated behind, taking a seat as well, "It's the real deal alright."

"And these protective circles—they really work?" Sam asked him pointing to an open page.

Bobby crossed his arms over his chest, "Hell yeah, you get a demon in one, they're trapped. They're powerless. It's like a satanic roach motel."

Melody and Sam laughed at Bobby's joke while Dean smiled, "The man knows his stuff." He led his sister over to the desk, keeping an arm across her shoulders as Bobby said,

"I'll tell you something else too. This is some serious crap you kids stepped in."

"What do you mean?" Melody asked him crossing her arms over her stomach.

Bobby took in a deep breath, "Normal year I hear say…three demonic possessions. Maybe four, tops. This year I heard of twenty-seven so far. You get what I'm saying?" The siblings shared a tense look as he continued, "More and more demons are walking among us—a lot more."

"Do you know why?" Sam questioned but only got a head shake from Bobby,

"No, but I know it's something big. The storm's coming, and you kids…your daddy—you are smack in the middle of it."

Melody chewed her lip and leaned in closer to her big brother, feeling a chill crawl up her spine. Dean was about to ask for the whiskey again but stopped. They heard angry, rushed barking coming from outside the house. Bobby looked over his shoulder, "Rumsfeld." He stood up and went to a window, stared out for a second then glanced back at the Winchesters, "Something's wrong."

Before anyone else could say anything, Bobby's front door was kicked in. Meg stood in the doorway and stepped inside. Fuming she bellowed out, "No more crap, okay?"

Dean pulled out his flask of holy water and walked up to the girl twisting it open. She snarled and threw out her arm sending Dean flying into stacks of books. Melody felt a growl climb out of her throat and marched over to Meg, fists clenched, fingernails digging into her palms.

Meg took a quick, half-step backwards. The girl's eyes were terrifying-even to a demon. Silver, glowing, and burning eyes bore down on her. Melody felt the rage wash over her and hissed through her teeth, "You will die…slowly."

Pulling back, Melody sent her fist into Meg's jaw. As the demon stumbled backward Melody seemed to come out of a daze, shaking her head and nearly falling over. Sneering, Meg sent a solid back hand toward Melody causing her to fall over and skid across the floor landing next to Dean.

Looking back up at the youngest Winchester she saw him pull their friend behind him. "I want the colt, Sam—the real colt—right now."

"We don't have it on us." Sam said pulling Bobby behind him as they backed up slowly with Meg following them, "We buried it."

"Didn't I say 'no more crap'? I swear—after everything I heard about you Winchesters, I've got to tell you, I'm a little underwhelmed." Meg said in mock surprise then scoffed at Sam, "First Johnny tries to pawn off a fake gun, and then leave the real gun with the three stooges. It's very disappointing really. I mean, did you honestly think I wouldn't find you?"

"Actually," Melody grimaced as she held Dean up and came around the corner, "we were counting on it sweetheart."

Meg turned around and gave them both a threatening stare. Dean smirked at her and moved his eyes upwards toward the ceiling. Meg followed where he was looking and felt a chill run over her skin. A devil's trap was staring down at her, mocking and taunting her.

Dean sniggered, "Gotcha."

* * *

"You know, if you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask." Meg grinned at the Winchesters from her seat. They had tied her down to a rickety chair and were gathered around the devil's trap keeping a close eye on her. Dean sat in between his siblings staring at Meg with an angry, threatening look. Bobby came around the corner,

"I salted the doors and windows, if there are any demons out there they ain't getting in."

"Thanks Bobby," Melody said looking up at him. Dean nodded at Bobby and stood up walking over to stand in front of the tied down demon,

"Where's our father Meg?"

She stared up at him and snickered, "You didn't ask very nice."

Dean smirked and tried again, "Where's our father, bitch?"

Meg feigned offense, "Jeez, you kiss your mother with that mouth? Oh I forgot. You don't."

"You think this is a freaking game?!" Dean shouted walking up and resting his hands on the arms of the chair leaning his face down close to hers he yelled, "Where is he?! What did you do to him?!"

"He died screaming. I killed him myself." She grinned wickedly at him. Dean clenched his jaw, mouth quivering angrily. He tried, he really did try to contain his anger but he just couldn't. Melody let out a small gasp when Dean violently back handed Meg across the face.

Meg leaned over to the side cheek stinging but ignored the pain and looked back up at Dean, "That's kind of a turn-on—you hitting a girl."

"You're no girl." He growled at her barely containing his temper. Dean really felt like hitting her again and was about to but Bobby's voice stopped him.

"Dean." Glancing over his shoulder he saw the salty mechanic walk out of the room and took that as a queue to follow him. As he did Sam looked down at him,

"You okay?" he asked and also got a worried glance from his sister.

Dean just shook his head and said through gritted teeth, "She's lying. He's not dead."

Bobby glanced at Meg before speaking, "Dean you've got to be careful with her. Don't hurt her."

"Why?"

"Because she really is a girl that's why," Bobby answered him getting questioning stares from the Winchesters.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked him confused.

Bobby looked at the youngest, "She's possessed. That's a human possessed by a demon. Can't you tell?"

Dean glanced back at Meg who was glaring at them from her chair. He looked at Bobby, "Are you trying to tell me there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?"

"It makes sense," Melody shrugged crossing her arms over her stomach. She couldn't help but feel this awful cold and thickness in the air. She noticed that the air always seemed to change when she was near or around demons. Maybe she was just sensitive to their…evil-creepy-demon vibes, Melody thought to herself. Although in the pit of her stomach she knew it had something to do with her other "abilities" that had suddenly popped up recently. And that made her even more terrified of them.

"That's actually good news." Dean's voice brought her back to reality and she could only give him a confused stare. What did he mean by that?

Not five minutes later she found out why. Sam had their father's journal open to the pages marked specifically for demon exorcism. Melody held in her hands a bottle of holy water and a pistol filled with rock salt rounds. They weren't taking any chances with this.

The Winchesters surrounded Meg who could only stare up at them in amusement, "Are you gonna read me a story?"

Dean nodded at her, "Something like that. Hit it, Sam."

Sam took in a breath and began reading from the pages, "Regna terrae, cantáte deo, psállite domino…"

He continued reading off the exorcism and Meg smiled contemptuously, "An exorcism? Are you serious?"

Melody smirked down at her while Dean answered, "We're going for it baby. Head spinner, projectile vomiting, the whole nine yards."

"Tribuite virtutem deo." As Sam finished the first of the lines Meg groaned and squeezed her eyes shut, she looked like she might really vomit. Melody gripped her gun tighter, finger resting just over the trigger.

Meg opened her eyes and panted, glancing over her shoulder at Sam she sneered at him, "I'm gonna kill you." She looked back at Dean and Melody, "I'm gonna rip the bones from your body."

"Sorry sugar," Melody smirked again but there was no humor in her eyes, "you're gonna burn in hell. Unless you tell us where our dad is."

The demon didn't answer, only stared at her and smiled cheekily. Dean shrugged, "Well, at least you'll get a nice tan." He glanced at Sam, who took a breath and continued reading,

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis santanica potestas, omnis incursion infernalis adversarii, omnis legio," Meg began to shake and bent her head forward panting, "omnis congregation et sect diabolica."

"Ah!" Meg cried and gripped the arms of the chair, "He begged for his life with tears in his eyes. He begged to see his sons—to see his _precious baby girl_—one last time. That's when I slit his throat."

Melody clenched her jaw, knuckles turning white as she gripped her gun even harder. The Winchesters exchanged a look and Sam continued, "Ergo…"

Dean leaned down to eye level with Meg, "For your sake, I hope you're lying. Cause if it's true I swear to God, I will march into hell myself and I will slaughter each and every one of you evil sons of bitches, so help me God."

"Perditionis venenum propinare. Vade, satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae," several open books scattered throughout the room began flipping through their pages and the air grew even heavier, "hostis humanae salutis. Humiliare sub potenti manu dei, contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine. Quem inferi tremunt."

Meg panted, a sheen of sweat formed on her brow and she grunted again, "Ah!"

"Where is he?" Melody questioned through gritted teeth, breathing hard through her own nose and trying to not show signs of what she felt.

Breathing heavily Meg answered in a shaking, strained voice, "You just won't take 'dead' for an answer will you?"

"Where is he?" Dean asked her in a harsher, more demanding voice.

"Dead!"

"No!"

"No he's not!" Dean and Melody shouted over each other at the demon. Meg glanced up at Melody; her eyes flashed silver for a moment. Dean leaned down to eye level and started screaming, "He's not dead! He can't be!"

Melody tried to keep herself calm, the fury was starting to take over and she felt like she couldn't control herself. Clicking on the safety of her gun, she stuffed it into the back of her pants as Dean glanced up at Sam who had gone quiet, "What are you looking at? Keep reading."

Sam shook himself and began to read again, "Ab insidiis diabolic, libera nos, domine, ut exxlesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos."

As he finished Meg let out a screeching wail, throwing back her head in pain. The chair she was in moved and scraped along the floor. Melody took a step back, she had never seen a real exorcism before…and it was terrifying.

"Ut inimicos sanctae exxlesiae humiliare digneris, te rogamus audi—"

"He will be!" Meg cried out.

Dean held out a hand, "Wait! What?!"

Meg panted, "He's not dead, but he will be after what we do to him."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Melody asked stepping just outside of the devils trap. Meg glared up at her,

"You don't."

Grimacing Melody called to her younger brother to continue, "Sam!"

"A building!" Meg said quickly and growled out at them, "Okay? A building in Jefferson City."

Dean took over the questioning, "Missouri? Where, where? An address."

Meg answered him, exhausted, "I don't know."

"And the demon—the one we're looking for." Sam asked her, "Where is it?"

"I don't know. I swear." Meg's voice cracked and she gasped for air, "That's everything. That's all I know."

Dean shared a look with his sister. Melody gave him a small, barely noticeable nod and Dean glanced at Sam, "Finish it."

"What?!" Meg cried, "I told you the truth."

"I don't care," Dean growled as he walked around behind her.

"You son of a bitch. You promised."

"I lied!" Dean barked at her making sure to be at eye level. "Sam?" he called for his brother to finish but got only silence, "Sam! Read." He ordered walking away from the demon.

Sam caught his arm, "We can still use her, find out where the demon is."

"She doesn't know." Dean said nodding in Meg's direction.

"She lied," Sam said firmly but felt Melody stand next to him,

"There's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there."

Dean agreed with their sister, "We've got to help her."

Bobby had heard enough. He walked up to the Winchesters, "You're gonna kill her."

"What?" Melody and Dean asked him.

"You said she fell from a building." Bobby began explaining to them, "That girl's body is broken. The only thing keeping her alive is that demon inside. You exorcise it, the girl is gonna die."

"Listen to me," Dean almost begged, "we are not gonna leave her like that."

"She is a human being…" Bobby tried to defend but Melody shook her head,

"And we're gonna put her out of her misery." The group silenced and Melody looked over at her youngest brother, "Sam finish it." He hesitated and looked like he was going to argue against her but Melody gritted her teeth at him, "Finish it or I will."

Sam looked at the oldest Winchester for help but Dean only shook his head, "Finish it." He agreed with their sister. Looking back at Meg he exhaled sharply, raised the journal up in his hands and read,

"Dominicos sanctae ecclesiae. Terogamus audi nos. terribilis deus de sanctuario suo deus israhel," Meg shook and jerked around in her seat. The chair screeched forward in the devils trap and Meg lifted her head, eyes turned to black orbs as Sam read louder, "Ipse tribuite virtutem et fortitudeinem plebi suae. Benedictus deus. Gloria patri."

Meg threw back her head, letting out a loud wailing scream. Thick, black smoke poured out of her open mouth and shot out at the ceiling. Melody gripped Dean's arm tightly, she had never expected it to look like that. Meg yelled for what seemed like hours and then finally…it stopped. The girl's head fell forward, the room felt lighter and everything went dead silent.

And just like that, life came back to the girl sitting in the chair. Blood slowly dripped from her mouth and she struggled to lift her head up, groaning from the effort. Melody was the first to spring into action; dropping her bottle of holy water and bending down to help the girl lift her head up.

"She's still alive. Call 911. Get some water and blankets." Dean said to Bobby who walked off quickly.

Melody hushed the girl repeating, "It'll be alright," to her as she felt her brothers bend down and start to unwrap Meg's wrists from the chair.

"Thank you…" she barely whispered to them but the Winchesters quickly shushed her, trying to have her save as much strength as she could before the ambulance arrived.

"Come on," Dean said to Sam gently pushing Melody back, "let's get her down." The boys stood and put their hands underneath her legs and behind her head. They lifted her as gently as they could, and lowered her to the ground trying to keep her as calm as possible.

When they finally had her head laying down Melody kneeled next to Dean. "A year," the girl said in a strained voice.

"What?" Sam asked her and she looked at him,

"It's been a year. I've been awake for some of it," she gasped, "I couldn't move my own body." The siblings exchanged wary looks as she continued, "The things I did—it's a nightmare."

Melody, feeling empathy for the poor girl reached out her hand and gripped the girl's gently. She weakly held back as Dean asked, "Was it telling us the truth about our dad?"

"Dean," Sam said to him, trying to stop him but he just gave Sam a 'shut up' look and said,

"We need to know."

Meg whimpered, "Yes. But it wants…it wants you to know. That…they want you to come for him."

"If dad's still alive, none of that matters." Dean slowly shook his head. Melody held the girl's hand in both of hers now and heard Bobby come around the corner. He kneeled down next to them, handing Sam the blanket and Dean the glass of water.

Sam placed the bundled blanket underneath the girl's head while Dean gently helped her take a sip of water. With his hand still holding onto Meg's head, Sam asked, "Where is the demon we're looking for?"

"Not there," she gasped, "other ones…awful ones."

Melody patted her hand softly, "Do you know where they're keeping our dad?"

"By the r-river…sunrise…" her hand went limp in Melody's as Dean asked her quickly,

"Sunrise what does that mean?" when he got no answer he tried again, "What does that mean?"

Melody slowly let go of the girl's hand, closed her eyes and said a silent prayer. She had never been too religious, but when it came to the death of an innocent…she tended to pray for them and hope they would find peace…wherever they went.

* * *

Melody sighed and pulled her hair out of its pony tail. Looking over her shoulder, her father was fast asleep on the bed. They had gotten him out. It had taken a while, and a lot of running away from demons. Dean had even killed one using the colt…but they had made it out. Now they were hiding out in an abandoned cabin they had come across.

Walking out into the main room, she saw Sam pouring salt all around the windows and doors. Dean turned off the sink and wiped his hands of grime. "How is he?" Sam asked her.

"He just needs a little rest that's all," she said moving to lean against the dining table next to her older brother. "How are you Sammy?"

Inhaling sharply he answered, "I'll survive." Sam had a fresh bruise forming on his right eye. Before Dean had killed the demon, it had been laying waste to Sam's face. Now his right eye was slowly closing shut, fresh cuts beginning to scab over as well.

Closing up the bag of salt, Sam looked back at his older siblings, "Hey, you don't think we were followed here do you?"

"I don't know." Dean shrugged, "I don't think so. I mean, we couldn't have found a more out-of-the-way place to hole up."

"Yeah," Sam let out a breathy, humorless laugh. Melody stood to get herself a glass of water and Sam took his chance. Looking at his oldest brother he spoke in a hushed tone, "Hey uh…Dean you um…you saved my life back there."

"So I guess you're glad I brought the gun, huh?" Dean smirked at him. Melody leaned against the kitchen counter and watched her brothers.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Man, I'm trying to thank you here."

Dean watched him for a moment and then said, "You're welcome." Melody walked to stand by her brother, putting down her half empty glass she glanced down at her big brother when he spoke up, "Hey guys?"

"Yeah?"

"What's up?" Sam and Melody asked him. Dean looked down at his hands,

"You know that guy I shot? There was a person in there."

Melody shared a look with her youngest brother and placed a comforting hand on top of Dean's shoulder, "You had no other choice." She said to him gently.

"I know," he answered, "that's not what bothers me."

"Then what does?" Sam asked him.

Dean paused for a moment and swallowed, "Killing that guy, killing Meg. I didn't hesitate. I didn't even flinch. For you two or dad, the things I'm willing to do or kill it's just…it scares me sometimes."

"It shouldn't."

The Winchester kids all looked up. Their father was standing in the doorway, hands at his sides looking like he just woke up from a deep sleep. "You did good." John said to Dean.

"You're not mad?" Dean asked him. Melody turned to face their father but did not run up to him like she pictured she would. There was…something that wasn't quite right. Some little alarm was going off deep inside her, but she just chalked it up to nerves and stood next to her big brother chewing her bottom lip as John asked Dean,

"For what?"

"Using a bullet." Dean answered like it was obvious.

John nearly scoffed, "Mad? I'm proud of you. You know, Sam and I, we can get pretty obsessed. And Mels can get lost sometimes but you—you watch out for this family. You always have."

Dean felt his jaw twitch and he glanced at his sister. In the span of a half second…they had both agreed on the same thing. Putting on their best poker faces they looked back at John. "Thanks," Dean mumbled.

The house began to rumble, the wind kicked up outside and the lights started flickering on and off. The Winchesters all moved to the nearest window, John taking the lead. He looked out at the dark forest for a second then back at his kids, "It found us. It's here."

"The demon?" Sam gasped and John started giving orders,

"Sam, lines of salt in front of every window, every door."

"Already did it."

"Check it, okay?" John asked him and Sam walked off leaving the oldest Winchester kids with their father. "Dean, you got the gun?"

"Yeah," he nodded and felt Melody move closer behind him.

John held out a hand, "Give it to me."

Dean reached back and pulled out the colt, "Yeah Sam tried to shoot the demon in Salvation, it vanished."

"This is me," John said hurriedly, "I won't miss. Now the gun. Hurry." Dean held the gun in his hands and hesitated. John shook his open hand, "Son, please. Give me the gun, what are you doing Dean?"

Dean slowly stepped back, feeling his sister place her hands on his upper back. "You'd be furious." Dean said gripping the colt.

"What?" John asked, exasperated.

"That I wasted a bullet." Dean answered, "He wouldn't be proud of me. He'd tear me a new one. And he doesn't call my sister 'Mels'—ever." He raised the colt and pulled back the hammer, "You're not our dad."

John scoffed and faced them, "Dean, Melody it's me."

Melody only shook her head, "No way."

"I know my dad better than anyone," Dean grumbled keeping his gun arm steady, "and you ain't him."

"What the hell has gotten into you two?" John begged them.

"I could ask you the same thing." Dean answered harshly. John scoffed while Sam came rushing into the room.

"Dean? Melody? What the hell is going on?"

"Your brother and sister have lost their minds," John answered Sam.

Melody grit her teeth, "He's not dad."

"What?" Sam looked at her, confused and Dean explained,

"We think he's possessed. He's probably been possessed since we rescued him."

"Don't listen to him Sammy." John said to Sam not taking his eyes off of Dean.

"How do you know?" Sam asked his siblings. Dean stuttered, trying to find the right way to explain himself and his sister,

"He's different."

Melody grumbled, "I can feel it Sam."

"We don't have time for this." John said stopping them, "Sam if you want to kill this demon, you've got to trust me." The youngest Winchester glanced at his brother and sister. Melody was standing directly behind her brother, she looked fearful and tense, as did Dean. "Sam?" John's voice pulled his attention away from them.

Sam breathed hard through his mouth. He stared at his dad for a moment longer than slowly shook his head, "No," he said moving to stand by his brother and sister. Melody, relieved reached out and gripped Sam's hand tightly as she kept a firm grip on Dean's shoulder.

John stared at his kids, giving them an unbelieving and slightly amused grin, "Fine. You're all so sure. Go ahead…kill me." His eyes filled with tears and he looked down at his boots. Dean felt his trigger finger slowly give way, gun arm beginning to lower. Then they heard John take in a deep breath, "I thought so." His voice had changed. Going into deeper registers and turning rough. He looked back up at them and Melody felt her heart drop…those eyes. Those sickly, evil yellow eyes bore down on them and before she could blink she felt herself flying backwards.

She grunted as she was thrown against the wall and heard two more thumps. Sam was on the other side of the room; Dean was on the opposite side of the window she was pinned next to. The colt clattered to the floor loudly. The Winchester siblings groaned and fought against the force that was keeping them there but could hardly move.

John or Yellow Eyes bent down to pick up the discarded weapon, "What a pain in the ass this things been." He looked over at Sam who said harshly at him,

"It's you isn't it. We've been looking for you for a long time."

"Well, you found me." The demon shrugged at him.

"But the holy water?" Sam asked and Melody wondered about that too. When they had first found their father they had poured holy water onto his chest and nothing had happened.

Yellow Eyes scoffed, "You think something like that works on something like me?"

Sam grit his teeth and pushed but only felt himself being shoved harder against the wall, "I'm gonna kill you." He growled at the demon, who only smiled,

"Oh, that would be a neat trick. In fact, here." He set the colt down onto the table, "Make the gun float to you there, psychic boy."

Melody grunted, "Don't you dare speak to him." Yellow Eyes glanced at her and grinned,

"What're you gonna do? Blink at me with that pretty eye trick of yours?" he slowly advanced on her and Melody snarled, feeling the slowly familiar rage build up inside her. She closed her eyes and growled as she opened them, eyes shining brightly at the demon.

"Last time a demon saw this…she looked pretty damn afraid." Melody pushed against the force and got her fist a few inches away from the wall before it was shoved back hard into the wood.

Yellow Eyes only laughed, "You don't even know what you are _girl_." He walked up to her and gripped her face in his hand tightly, "And you can't control it, you're too weak."

Melody grunted, feeling herself beginning to drain and as he released her, her head fell forward as she slowly caught herself. She hated to admit it, but the demon was right. She had no ounce of control…and she could hardly stay all…glowy for too long before she began to feel dizzy.

The demon chuckled and picked up a lock of Melody's golden hair, "You know this is fun. I could have killed you a hundred times today but this…" he sighed and let her hair fall, "this is worth the wait."

Dean grimaced and tried to move only feeling himself being pressed harder into the wall. Yellow Eyes looked over at him, "Your dad—he's in here with me, trapped inside his own meat suit. He says 'hi' by the way. He's gonna tear you apart. He's gonna taste the iron in your blood."

"Let him go, or I swear to God—"

"What?" Yellow Eyes stopped Dean from continuing, "What are you and God gonna do? You see, as far as I'm concerned, this is justice." The demon walked up to Dean slowly, "You know that little exorcism of yours? That was my daughter."

"Who, Meg?" Dean asked him.

"The one in the alley?" Yellow Eyes continued, "That was my boy. You understand?"

Dean nearly rolled his eyes, "You've got to be kidding me."

"What? You're the only one that can have a family?" Yellow Eyes stared at him accusingly, "You destroyed my children. How would you feel if I killed your family?" Dean's jaw quivered with fury as the demon leaned back, "Oh that's right I forgot…I did. Still, two wrongs don't make a right."

"You son of a bitch," Dean growled at him.

"I want to know why." Sam said from the other side of the room, "Why did you do it?"

Yellow Eyes looked over his shoulder at him, "You mean why did I kill mommy and pretty little Jess?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah," and Yellow Eyes smirked,

"You know, I never told you this," he said looking between Dean and Melody, "but Sam was gonna ask her to marry him. Been shopping for rings and everything." He backed up a few steps then turned around to face Sam, "You want to know why? Because they got in the way."

"In the way of what?"

"My plans for you, Sammy—you…and all the children like you." Sam shot a questioning stare over at his sister and Yellow Eyes followed, "Oh, don't worry about big sis. She's something completely different…something I had nothing to do with. Someone else has plans for her."

Melody felt her eyes widen. What the hell was he talking about? Yellow Eyes glanced at her and grinned, like he was so much better because he knew the truth and she didn't. Melody felt another snarl crawl up her throat but held it back when she heard Dean,

"Listen you mind just getting this over with, huh? Cause I really can't stand the monologuing."

"Funny," Yellow Eyes turned toward Dean and moved to stand in front of him, "but that's all part of your M.O. isn't it? Mask all that nasty pain, mask the truth. "

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Dean asked sarcastically.

"You know, you fight, and you fight for this family. But the truth is they don't need you. Not like you need them." The demon jerked his head backwards, "Sam—he's clearly John's favorite. Even when they fight, it's more concern than he's ever shown you. And Melody? Well, she just has to give daddy a look and he falls weak at the knees. He hardly ever raises his voice at her—because she's just that much better of a child than you."

Dean clenched his jaw and snickered up at him, "I bet you're real proud of your kids too huh? Oh wait, I forgot. I wasted em."

Yellow eyes grinned. He looked down at the floor, paused for a moment then glared back up at Dean. There was a rushing sound and then Dean threw his head back against the wall screaming out in agony.

"Dean! N—ah!" Melody cried when Yellow Eyes looked at her, she felt a burning and stabbing pain course through her veins.

"Melody! Dean! No!" Sam screamed from his position on the wall. He watched as his siblings panted and groaned. From both of their chests, right where their hearts were, blood started pouring out and soaking their shirts.

Moaning, Melody lifted her head and caught the eyes of the demon, "Daddy!" she felt hot tears fall down her face as Dean called for their father too,

"Dad! Dad, don't you let it kill us!" Another wave of agony crashed into them, Melody wailed and threw her head back. She tried to call on her powers, tried to do something but all she could do was cry and scream. The pain was just too much; she could hardly think or see straight.

"No!" Sam shrieked. He saw the gun on the table. It was right there. All he had to do was move it, just bring it half a foot towards his hand and this would all be over. Dean sobbed along with his sister. Soft, chilling whispers cold be heard coming from somewhere. Trying one more time he said through gritted teeth,

"Dad, please." Soft whispering could be heard but nothing else happened. Yellow Eyes just stared at him. Melody started to feel the familiar rage in the pit of her stomach and called on it. Though her strength was waning she tried. Her eyes turned silver for a half second and she went to move but stopped when she glanced over at her big brother. Dean's head slowly fell forward and the rage vanished from her.

"Dean? No, no!" Melody cried and heard Sam scream for their brother as well. Her chest began to feel numb…the soft whispers came to a halt and she heard her father,

"Stop," he wept, "stop it." Almost as soon as her father had appeared, the hold on herself and Sam was released. Melody fell to the floor, gasping and clutching her bleeding chest she crawled over to her big brother who was still pinned to the wall. Standing on shaking legs, she gripped his face and felt for a pulse. There was one, but it was so faint and barely there.

Sam rushed over to the colt and pointed it at his father's back. Turning to face him, Yellow Eyes had taken over again. "You kill me, you kill daddy."

"I know," he said then aimed. Sam shot the gun, grazing the demon's leg. John's body flickered, his skeleton could be seen for a moment and electricity crawled across his skin as he fell over onto the floor.

The hold on Dean was released and he fell onto the floor on his side, gasping for air. Melody fell behind him, holding her brother's head onto her knees as hot tears fell down her cheeks. Sam moved over to them calling out for his brother, "Dean? Dean, hey. Oh god, you lost a lot of blood."

Thinking quickly, Melody pulled off her green flannel shirt leaving her in a white cotton tank top, and pressed the ball of fabric against Dean's chest wound. Glancing down at her own chest she saw a deep scratch across where her heart laid. "Where's dad?" Dean moaned as his sister kept pressure on his chest wound.

Sam answered him quickly, "He's right here. He's right here Dean."

"Go check on him," Dean ordered weakly. Melody held back a sob and leaned over, pressing her forehead onto her older brother's for a half second before glancing up at Sam. He slowly stepped over to John's body,

"Dad?"

John took in a sharp breath and leaned his head up from the floor, "Sammy! It's still alive." He groaned with effort, "it's inside me, I can feel it. You shoot me. You shoot me! You shoot me in the heart, son!" Sam pulled back the hammer and aimed the colt, "Do it! Do it now!"

"Sam, don't you do it. Don't you do it," Dean said from his spot.

Melody whimpered and felt fresh tears on her face, "Daddy please…don't make him."

John ignored his other children and said to Sam in a strained voice, "You got to hurry. I can't hold on to it much longer. You shoot me son! Shoot me!" Sam gripped the colt harder as John nearly cried, "Son, I'm begging you! We can end this here and now! Sammy, you kill me!"

"Sam, no," Dean whispered harshly through his own tears and Melody could only let out a blubbering sob.

"You do this! Sammy!" John screamed but his youngest could not do it. Slowly, Sam lowered the colt and John gasped for air, "Sam…Sam…"

Low growling could be heard and then John threw his head back. Thick, black smoke poured out of his open mouth as John screamed in agony. The smoke rose toward the ceiling and then fell back down, sinking between the floorboards and disappearing. John gasped for air. Looking up at his youngest he groaned, defeated and laid his head back down onto the wood floor.

* * *

John winced and gripped his leg. Sam pushed the Impala faster down the road. Glancing back he saw his sister leaning her head onto Dean's shoulder, eyes drooping but she fought the exhaustion to help keep her shirt pressed against his chest wound. Dean was fighting to keep his eyes open as well and gripped his sister's hand tightly.

Glancing at his father Sam said quickly, "Just hold on alright? The hospital is only ten minutes away."

John shook his head, "I'm surprised at you Sammy. Why didn't you kill it? I thought we saw eye-to-eye on this. Killing this demon comes first—before me, before everything."

Sam looked in the rearview mirror. His brother and sister stared back at him, both looking like they had come out of a battlefield. "No sir, not before everything." He took a breath, "Look, we've still got the colt. We still have the one bullet left. We just have to start over alright? I mean, we already found the demon—"

Melody saw the truck before it hit the car. Glass shattered and flew at them. On instinct, Dean buried his sister's head into his chest. Melody felt herself flying for a moment and let out a sharp scream. The eighteen wheeler they had been hit with pushed the car off the road. They skidded and scraped over grass and fields for several seconds until finally they came to a slow, halting stop.

* * *

_Another cliffhanger! Gah! I'm terrible I know. Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	13. Bad Moon Rising

**Woo new chapter! And also good news I got my tumblr page all set up. There is a link on my profile that will take you right to it if any of you are interested. There is a Q&A and a place where you can all post fanart of your own. There aren't a lot of things on the page as of this moment but when I finally get a decent photoshop program and get better at using it, there will be lots more posts and such. Ok I'll stop talking, oh and we also get a special visit in this chapter from a very special friend :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

Everything went still. Music from the radio, sad, droopy blues still played in the background. Somehow in the midst of the chaos, Melody had ended up on her back, head in Dean's lap looking up at the crushed roof of the Impala. Her brother's hand was messily thrown across her neck, resting on her shoulder. She gasped and moaned, tried to move but felt pain shoot up her leg. The blues slowly faded and Creedence Clearwater's "Bad Moon Rising" started playing on the radio. Melody tried to laugh at the irony of the song but only let out a sharp breath instead.

Footsteps came around to the driver side door. It was quickly ripped off and thrown to the side. Glancing around, straining and fighting against her stiff neck she saw a man-presumably the truck driver-standing outside of the car. His eyes were black holes as he stared down at the family threateningly. Sam whipped out the colt and pointed it at the demon, "Get back or I'll kill you. I swear to god."

"You won't," the demon challenged, "you're saving that bullet for something else."

Sam pulled back the hammer and aimed for the demon's head, "You want to bet?" The demon smiled down at him then threw back his head. Black smoke poured out of his open mouth, rose into the sky and flew off. The truck driver fell to his knees, sobbing he stared at the wrecked car,

"Oh my god. Did I do this?"

"Dad?" Sam called to him weakly, "Dad…" he sucked in a breath and leaned his head back against the seat, "Melody…Dean…"

Melody gasped but couldn't answer, only let out a small squeaking whimper. Sam sounded like he was crying, "Melody! Dean!"

* * *

Dean felt his eyes pop open. Sitting up he found himself in a hospital bed, stark white shirt and crisp blue cotton pants on. He opened and closed his mouth; it felt like he had been sleeping for days. Stiffly, he got out of the bed his bare feet padding over the cold tile floor. Walking out of his room and into the hall he called out in a gruff voice, "Sam?"

He looked into the room across from his, it was empty and the whole place was eerily quiet. Moving down the hall and looking into the other rooms he tried calling again, "Melody? Dad? Anybody…?"

Dean padded down the hall and found the stairs leading to the lobby. He sighed, relieved. Sitting at the main desk was a blonde nurse in pale blue scrubs. "Excuse me." Dean called coming down the steps to stand in front of her. "Hi. I uh—I think I was in a car accident with my dad, brother and sister. I just need to find them."

The nurse completely ignored him, acting like she hadn't heard him at all. "Hello?" Dean said to her snapping his finger and waving a hand in her face. Nothing. She gave him no sign of hearing or seeing him. That can't be good; he thought and ran back up the stairs. He found the room he had come out of and froze. He saw…himself lying in the bed. Tubes stuck down his throat, needles attached to his arms and monitor beeping mechanically at him. Dean didn't know what to do, so he just leaned against the wall…scared, defeated and lost.

Before he could come up with some type of plan, he heard footsteps come around the corner. Looking around he saw his siblings walk into the room. Sam had cuts and bruises on his face, Melody had a butterfly bandage on the left side of her forehead and the right side of her neck was turning purple with a fresh bruise.

"Sammy…Mels," Dean swallowed the lump in his throat, "you two look good…considering."

Melody and Sam didn't hear him. He watched his sister whimper and kneel down next to the bed, wincing as she rested her knees on the floor but ignored her pain. She reached out and gingerly took Dean's limp hand as Sam stood behind her. He put a hand on her shoulder and fought back his own tears.

Dean walked around to stand on the opposite side of the bed facing his siblings, "Tell me you two can hear me." He got no answer, Melody leaned her head down on top of the bed and Sam chewed his lip. Dean tried to speak to them again or was talking just to help himself feel better, he wasn't sure. "How's dad? Is he okay? Come on Sam, you're the psychic. Give me some ghost whispering or something."

"Your father's awake." Melody and Sam looked behind them as a doctor stepped into the room. "You can go see him if you like."

Slowly, Melody pushed herself back to her feet. Sam put an arm over her shoulders and held her to his side while she crossed her arms over her stomach. "What about our brother?" she asked swallowing and choking back tears.

The doctor took in a breath, "Well he sustained serious injury—blood loss, contusions to his liver and kidney. But it's the head trauma I'm worried about. There's early signs of cerebral edema. Honestly I'm surprised you didn't end up as bad as him," the doctor said glancing at Melody who could only stare down at her shoes.

"Is there anything we can do?" Sam asked the doctor feeling his sister's unease.

Doc shrugged, "Well, we won't know his full condition until he wakes up. _If_ he wakes up."

Melody's eyes shot up at him and widened with fear, Sam's grip tightened around her, "If?"

"I have to be honest…"

"Screw you doc, I'm waking up." Dean scoffed at the doctor only to be ignored again as the man continued,

"Most people with his degree of injury wouldn't have survived this long. He's fighting very hard. But you both need to have realistic expectations."

Dean watched his siblings. Melody nodded her head and sucked in her bottom lip as fresh tears formed in her eyes. Sam only stood very still. Almost throwing his head back in exasperation Dean tried to get their attention, "Come on guys. Go find some hoodoo priest to lay some mojo on me. I'll be fine."

Melody stepped out of Sam's hold, "Um…doc could you…could you tell me where our dad is? I'd like to see him." The doctor nodded and pointed out a room a few doors down. Quickly shaking herself, Melody practically ran out of the room leaving Sam with his unconscious brother and the doctor.

"Sam?" Dean tried again but got nothing. The doctor walked up to the youngest and gently patted his shoulder,

"He'll be alright son; your brother is a fighter."

* * *

"Alright, here." John Winchester groaned as he pulled out a card from his wallet, handing it to his daughter he said, "Give em my insurance."

Melody in her seat next to his bed looked down at the card, scoffed then handed it up to Sam. He stared at the card, "Elroy Mcgillicuddy?" he slowly sat down in a chair at the end of the bed while John smiled,

"And his two loving sons…and beautiful daughter," he looked at Melody and gently patted the top of her golden hair. Taking in a breath John sighed, "So…what else did the doctor say about Dean?"

Sam shook his head, "Nothing." They had told their father everything not leaving out any detail. Sam glanced at his sister and took in a slow breath, "Look…if the doctor's won't do anything, then we'll have to—that's all." He shrugged seeming to take the lead as Melody only sat back quietly, "I don't know I'll find some…hoodoo priest and lay some mojo on him."

"We'll look for someone," Melody agreed with her brother and he nodded at her. John hated to be the bearer of bad news but he had to prepare his children for the worst,

"But…I don't know if we're gonna find anyone."

"Why not?" Sam asked him while Melody could only silently watch, "I found that faith healer before."

John shrugged, "That was one in a million—"

"So what?" Sam was beginning to get irritated and Melody knew where the conversation would go. She sat back in her chair and folded her hands in her lap as Sam continued getting more and more frustrated, "We just sit here with our thumbs up our asses?"

"No, I said we'd look. Alright?" that seemed to calm Sam down and Melody let out a breath of relief, "I'll check under every stone." John watched his kids slowly nod in understand then asked Sam, "Where's the colt?"

Melody began to answer, "Um…we put—" but Sam Winchester only rolled his eyes,

"Your son is dying and you're worried about the colt?"

John answered him quickly, "We are hunting this demon, and maybe it's hunting us too. That gun may be our only card."

Melody gave Sam a warning look and finished what she had been trying to say before, "We put it in the trunk. They dragged the car to a yard off of I-83."

"Alright," John nodded, "you got to clean out that trunk before some junk man sees what's inside."

"We already called Bobby," Sam said slightly annoyed, "he's like an hour out. He's gonna tow the Impala back to his place."

"Okay, you go meet up with Bobby, you get that colt and you bring it back to me. And watch out for hospital security." John gave the order looking at his children. Sam only grinned,

"I think I got it covered." He stood from his seat, Melody joining him wincing as pain shot through her leg but ignored it. Apparently the car crash had scratched up her leg pretty good. There was now a long, ugly scratch that started at the middle of her right thigh and snaked down around her leg until it faded out at the middle of her calf. She was sure there was going to be a scar…adding to her already vast collection.

As Sam and Melody walked out of the room their father stopped them, "Hey," when his children were facing him he reached over and picked up a piece of paper, "here. I made a list of things I need. Have Bobby pick them up for me."

Sam took the paper and held it out for both himself and his sister to read. Squinting his eyes he glanced up at John, "Acacia? Oil of abramelin? What's this stuff for?"

"Protection," John answered. Accepting it the kids turned to leave but Sam stopped. Letting out a slow breath he turned back to John,

"Hey dad…you know the demon? He said he had plans for me and children like me. You have any idea what he meant by that?"

John shook his head, "No, I don't." Defeated Sam turned to leave and Melody said to him quickly,

"I'll be right there," Sam nodded and left. Melody looked back at her father and sighed, "Dad…do you remember anything from when the demon possessed you?"

"Parts—bits and pieces, why are you asking?"

Wringing her fingers together Melody nervously walked closer to the bed, "The demon he…said some things about me. Do you remember that part?" at John's head shake she let out a sharp breath, "Daddy he said that someone else has plans for me—not him. Which means I'm not like whatever Sam is so that means that I'm…something different. Do…do you know? What I am exactly?"

John reached out and took her hand with his good one giving it a small squeeze he said, "Melody, you are my daughter, and that demon was just lying—you know that they always lie. Whatever this thing is that you can do, it has nothing to do with plans or demons, I'm sure of it."

It wasn't exactly an answer that she wanted but it did make her feel better…sort of. Accepting that she wouldn't get any straight answers from her father she bent down, kissed him on the cheek quickly and left the room without looking back.

Dean had watched the entire conversation from the corner of the room. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned against the wall and stared hard at John, "Well…you sure know something."

* * *

"Dean is gonna be pissed," Sam sighed as himself, Melody and Bobby all stared at the wrecked Impala. The entire passenger side was smashed in, crumbled up like a broken slinky. Steam rose from the half impaled engine and the paint was beginning to fall away.

All three walked up to get a closer look at the car while Bobby said, "Look this—this just ain't worth a tow." He opened up the hood, scoffed at the destroyed engine then dropped the hood back down. It fell off the hinges and banged loudly against the metal of the car. Melody walked around to the driver side while Bobby continued, "I say we empty the trunk, and sell the rest for scrap."

Sam pulled out his battered laptop, "No…Dean would kill me if we did that." He put the laptop on the car and Melody chewed her lip nodding in agreement with her younger brother,

"When he gets better he's gonna want to fix her up."

Bobby walked around the Impala throwing out his arms, "There's nothing to fix. The frame's a pretzel, the engine's ruined. There's barely any parts worth salvaging."

Melody leaned into the car and found her old green flannel; Dean's and her own blood stained the fabric. Tossing it back into the car with a grimace she heard Sam, "Listen Bobby. If there's only one working part, that's enough. We're not just gonna give up on…"

He trailed off afraid of what he would say next and the emotions it would reveal. Bobby slowly nodded, "Okay. You got it."

"Thanks Uncle Bobby," Melody grinned up at the old mechanic. He had never been one for sentimentality so he simply tipped his hat in her direction and gave her a half smile.

"Here…" Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper John had given him, "dad asked if you could get this stuff for him."

Bobby read over the list, "What John want with this?"

"Protection from the demon," Sam answered. Bobby gave him a look like he didn't quite understand what he had said,

"Bobby? What's up?" Melody asked him and the mechanic just shrugged,

"Nothing it's just…nothing…" Sam, concerned leaned against the car,

"What's going on?"

* * *

Melody had to pump her legs hard to keep up with her younger brother's long strides as he stormed through the parking lot. "Now…Sam you need to just be calm about this alright? We'll go in there and we'll ask questions okay? No fighting. Got it?"

He only glanced down at her, bag slung over his shoulder as they pushed through the hospital doors and bounded up the stairs. "Sam? Come on please…" she tried to calm him down but his mouth was set into a thin line. They walked into their father's room; Sam didn't even glance at John and just stood in front of the far window. Melody took a place near the foot of John's bed.

Dean relieved to see his siblings back started speaking to them rapidly, "Sammy, Mels tell me you can freakin hear me. There's something in the hospital. Now, you two got to bring me back, and we all got to hunt this thing." He stood next to his brother but got no response, "Sam!"

Melody chewed her lip nervously while John took notice of his son's tense shoulders, "You're quiet."

Furious Sam turned on his father, stepped up to the bed and slammed his bag down onto the table attached to the end of the bed. Melody flinched and crossed her arms over her stomach preparing herself for the fight. "You think we wouldn't find out?" Sam growled at his father.

"What are you talking about?" John asked him calmly.

"That _stuff_ from Bobby, you don't use it to ward off a demon—you use it to summon one." Sam pointed an accusing finger at John, "You're planning on bringing the demon here aren't you? Having some stupid macho showdown."

"I have a plan, Sam." John replied still calm but Sam would not hear it,

"That's exactly my point!" he shouted and thrust his arm out straight, "Dean is dying, and you have a plan!"

"Sam please…" Melody held out her hands, palms facing the floor trying to get her brother to stop but he ignored her and kept yelling,

"You know what? You care more about killing this demon than you do saving you own son!"

Dean walked to stand on the other side of the bed at his dad's left side, "No, no, no. Guys, don't do this."

John's 'dad' voice took over and he sat up in the bed pointing a finger at Sam, "Do not tell me how I feel. I am doing this for Dean."

Sam threw back his head exasperated and asked, "How? How is revenge gonna help him?" Melody covered her face with her hands; she couldn't stand it when they would fight. And without Dean there to be her stable ground in the storm that was her father and little brother's fighting she felt like she might fall to pieces. Dean looked across at his baby sister and wanted so badly to be there for her, he tried to stop his dad and brother again but they all didn't hear him. Sam continued yelling, "You're not thinking about anybody but yourself, it's the same selfish obsession!"

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose, "Come on guys don't do this."

John shouted back at Sam, "That's funny you know why? I thought this was your obsession, too. This demon killed your mother, killed your girlfriend. You _begged_ me to be part of this hunt!"

Melody uncovered her face and gripped her mother's ring tightly, staring at the floor and clenching her jaw shut. "Oh Mels…" Dean sighed seeing his sister's red rimmed eyes. Neither John nor Sam took notice of her distress and John kept shouting at his youngest,

"Now, if you killed that damn thing when you had the chance, none of this would have happened."

Sam scoffed, "It was possessing you. I would have killed you, too." He walked around to stand on the right side of the bed.

"Yeah, and your brother would be awake right now."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Shut up, both of you!" but they didn't. Sam looked genuinely hurt by what John had said and said back to him in a calm, seething voice,

"Go to hell." Dean watched a lone tear fall down his sister's face, but she kept her mouth closed.

John sneered, "You know what, I should have never taken you along in the first place—I knew it was a mistake."

Dean couldn't stand it anymore. His dad and brother couldn't see how upset they were making Melody. And he wanted to help her; he wanted to be her shoulder-to be her brother-bear-but he couldn't. "I said shut-up!" Dean screamed and threw out his arm swiping at a glass of water that sat on the table. It flew in the air and shattered across the floor.

That seemed to get their attention. Melody shot her eyes down at the shattered pieces of glass as did her father and brother. The room fell silent as they all stared at the mess for a second. Dean shook himself, "Dude, I full on swayzed that mother."

He moved a half step but stopped, knees going weak. Dean slowly lowered himself to the floor, panting and gripping his chest as his image flickered in and out. The rest of the Winchesters, oblivious to Dean, looked out at the hall. Nurses and doctors ran past the door hurriedly.

"Something's going on out there." John commented and jerked his head at his kids, telling them to go investigate.

Melody followed Sam as they trailed after the line of doctors and nurses. No…Melody felt her heart drop. They were all rushing into Dean's room. Sam and Melody stood at the edge of the door watching in horror as Dean's heartbeat monitor flat lined and the doctors frantically tried to bring him back.

"No." Sam whimpered and Melody blubbered out,

"Please god no…" she turned her face in and buried it into Sam's chest and sobbed. This was too much; she could barely stand up straight let alone deal with this stress. Sam put a hand to the back of her head and held her to him as he watched with pure horror in his eyes.

Dean limped around behind his siblings and watched the scene unfold. Then he saw it…the thing that had killed that nurse earlier. It was floating above his body, slowly lowering down closer and closer to him.

"You get the hell away from me." Dean growled walking past his siblings and into the room, "Stay back!"

The doctor pulsed one more time then threw back the charges, "There's no change starting CPR."

Dean walked up to the spirit and shouted at it, "I said get back!"

_"I said get back!"_ Melody and Sam both froze…could that have been…?

Unsure of what exactly to do, Dean reached out and took hold of the spirit. It roared and some force threw him back against the wall. The spirit turned, gave Dean a quick look then flew out of the room.

The monitors beeped and came back to life. "We have a pulse. We're back to sinus rhythm." A nurse announced and Melody, relived laid her head against Sam's chest again. Sam wrapped an arm around her and leaned against the wall feeling like he might fall over from physical and emotional exhaustion.

Dean hadn't been able to follow the spirit, it disappeared somewhere in the hospital. Walking back to his room he saw his brother and sister standing in the hall. Melody was lying against Sam, forehead pressed into his arm as her tears slowly dried. Sam gently rubbed her back; neither were speaking to each other just seeking familiar comfort from one another.

"Don't worry," Dean said to them moving to stand next to his siblings, "I'm getting that thing before it gets me. It's some kind of spirit, but I could grab it. And if I can grab it, I can kill it."

* * *

"Hey brother-bear," Melody sighed as she sat down next to Dean's bed. Sam had gone out saying he was going to get something and told her to wait here for him. Her father had fallen asleep several minutes ago and she was seeking the company of her big brother…if only he could talk to her.

She reached out and put her hand on top of his. A small, fond smile came across her face, "Do you remember when you let me have my first beer? I must have been…fourteen?"

Dean stood at the foot of the bed and smiled, "Barely fourteen."

"And you let me have the entire six pack and I guess I was such a lightweight cause it was my first time drinking I passed out right there on the back of the Impala and you carried me from the parking lot back to the motel room…" she laughed, "you even held my hair while I puked my guts out the next morning." She sighed and chewed her lip before saying,

"You were always there for me, if I was sick or upset or just needed someone to sit next to. I couldn't have asked for a better big brother...even if you are a complete moron sometimes."

Melody sniffled and laid her head on the mattress and began to sing softly, "When the night has come...and the land is dark. And the moon is the only light we'll see," a lone tear trickled down her face and fell onto the sheets.

Dean walked around and stood behind her and began to sing along, "No, I won't be afraid, oh, I won't be afraid," Melody's voice cracked as she sang the last line, "just as long as you stand...stand by me."

* * *

"M…el…ody…"

Melody shot her eyes open and sucked in a deep wheezing breath. She was sitting straight up and nearly fell out of her chair as she was jolted awake. She was in the same metal, stiff chair from the hospital but somehow the chair and her had been transported to…well somewhere in the middle of the pacific ocean. She was on a small sand bar, crisp blue waves lapping up toward her boots and pale white sand surrounded her.

"What…the hell…" Melody whispered slowly standing up from the chair. The sand bar was only six feet in length, just big enough for herself and a few other people. But there was nobody else, there was absolutely nothing else. It was just her, the tiny sand bar and ocean everywhere else.

"Damn those pain killers gave me some _weird_ dreams…knew I should have eaten something with them…" Melody tried to joke with herself but she wasn't laughing. She was honestly terrified. Spinning around in a circle she stopped dead in her tracks.

There at the end of the sand bar was…a light. It looked like it had a center then the light just shone out in all directions from it. It was honestly the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. All the colors she could think of and even some she had never seen before glimmered out and around the light.

"Whoa…" Melody gasped and slowly walked up closer to the light. As she closed the distance, she reached out her hand and tried to grab at whatever the light was.

"Don't," someone whispered to her. It sounded like bells chiming one-thousand different notes all at once.

"What…what are you?" She asked the light and it flickered, seemed to look around as if checking something. The colors turned to several shades of blue, all the colors of the ocean mixed together and glimmered at her. "You're beautiful…" Melody sighed at the light.

It paused, seemed to stare at her then the bells whispered to her, "Not much time. Being watched…"

"We're…someone is watching us? Well…who are you—what are you?"

"Stay calm," for a second, a solid male voice came through the bells and the lights flickered to shades of orange and pink…like a sunset. She nearly fell backwards when the light suddenly jumped forward toward her. Melody could smell rain and wet grass and the warmth-the absolute comforting _warmth_ that came from the light made her want to just fall into it forever.

"Can you tell me who you are?" she almost begged the light not knowing exactly where to look so she just flickered her eyes over every inch of it cataloging everything about the light so she could always remember its beauty.

"Not yet…" it whispered softly to her. Again Melody tried to reach out and touch the light, this time it did not flicker or flinch. She felt her hand touch something solid but smooth and soft—almost like satin.

"Can I know what you are?" she tried again and the colors glimmered to reflect a deep red.

"No…"

Melody pulled her hand away from the light, it's colors flickered back to blues and she stared at it, "Then why am I here? Am I dreaming this?"

The bells echoed against each other, "…wanted to see you again…"

She felt her heart race…wait..._what_? Why would a floating, colorful light make her feel like _that_? If anything she should run the opposite direction or try to wake up, but instead she reached out and touched the light's center again. The lights returned to deep red and it moved just an inch closer to her,

"Don't forget…" the male voice came through again and Melody waited and almost begged it to keep speaking, nearly pleaded for it to not stop. As her dream world slowly faded to black the light turned a deep gorgeous sapphire blue before the male voice whispered to her one final, beautiful word, "Castiel…"

* * *

_Review, fav and follow! Check out my tumblr page if you get a chance, thanks for reading!_


	14. Stand By Me

**I know this is mega, mega short but I had to complete this last bit before moving on. And can I just say that even I started to tear up at the end of this chapter I mean just the FEEEEEEELLLLSSSSS! Also...CASTIEEELLLLLL! HE'S TALKING TO MELODY, DO YOU EVEN KNOW CAUSE I'M JUST LIKE CAAAAAASSSS!**

**Ok, I'm calm now...sort of...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

"I can't explain it," the doctor shook his head as he stared down at Dean's charts. He had woken up several minutes ago. Sam was standing near the end of the bed, Melody had taken a seat next to her big brother gripping his hand tightly as if she was afraid to let him go. The doctor continued, "The edema's managed, the internal contusions are healed. Your vitals are good. You got to have some kind of angel watching over you."

"Thanks doc," Dean smiled at him. The man left the room quietly, leaving the siblings alone in the room. Dean looked back at his brother and sister, "You said a reaper was after me?"

"Yeah," Sam answered and Melody just nodded.

"How'd I ditch it?"

"You got me," the youngest shrugged. Melody knocked her shoulder against her oldest brother's,

"So you really don't remember anything?" Dean shook his head,

"No…except this pit in my stomach." He sighed, "Something's wrong." Melody tightened her grip on Dean, afraid because she could feel something too. The air was…wrong. Heavy and weighed down, like something bad was going to happen.

The Winchester siblings all turned their heads toward the sound of soft knocks at the door. John Winchester stood at the entrance and grinned at his oldest son, "How you feeling dude?"

Dean shrugged, "Fine I guess. I'm alive."

John smiled fully at him, "Well that's what matters."

"Where were you last night?" Sam asked him and Melody sighed. She did not want him to start anything right now. John slowly moved his eyes toward Sam's,

"I had some things to take care of."

"Well that's specific," Sam said not hiding his passive aggressive tone. Melody leaned her head on Dean's shoulder, too tired to try and play the peacekeeper. Dean took the lead,

"Come on, Sam." He said gently but Sam ignored him and questioned,

"Did you go after the demon?"

John shook his head, "No."

"You know, why don't I believe you right now?" Sam seemed to be preparing himself for a fight. Dean rolled his eyes and gave Melody a look that said 'he's really doing this now'?

Seeming tired and drained John stepped into the room, "Can we not fight right now? You know, half the time we're fighting, I don't know what we're fighting about. We're just butting heads. Look Sammy I've…I've made some mistakes. But I've always done the best I could. I just…I don't want to fight anymore okay?"

Sam could see past his dad's exterior but not complete. He could just tell something was wrong, just like Dean had said earlier, "Dad are you alright?"

Melody thought she saw tears begin to form at the base of her dad's eyes as he slowly smiled at Sam, "Yeah…yeah I'm just a little tired." He glanced at Melody then back to Sam, "Hey would you two mind uh…getting me a cup of caffeine?"

The youngest nodded, "Yeah…sure," and slowly walked out of the room. Melody knew it only took one person to get one cup of coffee but she didn't say anything, just stood up from the bed giving Dean's hand a quick squeeze then walked around her father.

John reached out a hand to stop her. Melody looked up at him and felt her brow scrunch up, "Dad? What's up?"

"Just…just make sure he doesn't put too much sugar in the drink." He said swallowing hard. Melody nodded,

"Yeah, of course…" she trailed off, chewed her lip then stood on her toes and placed a quick kiss to his cheek, "love ya pop." She mumbled walking out of the room without looking back.

Dean watched his father. He seemed to be looking after his two youngest kids in longing. Confused and concerned Dean slowly asked from his seat, "What is it?"

John seemed to come out of a trance and turned to face his oldest son, "You know when uh—when you were a kid, I'd come home from a hunt, and after what I'd seen, I'd be—I'd be wrecked. And you—you'd come up to me and you'd put your hand on my shoulder, and you'd look me in the eye and you'd…" his voice cracked and now his eyes turned red,

"You would say, 'it's okay, dad'." He let out a sharp breath, "Dean…I'm sorry."

Fighting back a lump in his own throat Dean asked, "Why?"

"You shouldn't have had to say that to me. I should have been saying that to you. You know I put…I put too much on your shoulders. I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy—of Melody. You took care of me. You did that, and didn't complain—not once."

One single, solitary tear fell down his face, "I just want you to know…that I am so proud of you."

Dean felt tears burn at the edges of his own eyes, "This really you talking?"

John let out a breathy, shaking laugh, "Yeah…yeah it's really me." He sniffled as Dean asked,

"Why are you saying this stuff?" John swallowed and stood closer to him, placing a hand on his son's shoulder he said,

"I want you to watch out for your brother and sister, okay?"

"Yeah dad," he nodded almost automatically, "you know I will." Then said in a quivering voice, "You're scaring me."

John shook his head as another tear fell down his cheek, "Don't be scared, Dean." He swallowed again and leaned in, whispering the two greatest, most terrible secrets he had ever kept. Turning the burden from himself over to his oldest…and that would be his final act in the world of the living.

* * *

Melody linked her arm with Sam's, "She was totally flirting with you, how could you not see it?"

"I think…dad?" they both stopped in their tracks. John was lying on the floor in an empty room, completely still. Sam barely heard his sister scream as they both rushed into the room, kneeling down next to their father's limp body and calling out for help.

Melody barely registered being pulled back away from her father as he was carted off to a different room. She hardly remembered getting Dean out of his bed and could barely feel Sam's tight grip around her as they watched the doctors and nurse work frantically to bring their father back.

And she barely heard the flatline or the nurses call the time of death…all she could see was her father's cold, dead body.

* * *

_August 16, 2006_

_Dad is dead. Gone, dead…not here with us anymore. I…can't think. We uh we went spend a few days working a job at a carnival in Wisconsin. We met one of dad's old friends, Ellen. She had a daughter, Jo…annoying little girl. I mean she did punch Dean, which was cool but the rest of the time? I don't know maybe if my father hasn't just died I would have been a little more patient with Dean's flirting but I just could not handle it. I'll need to ask her to forgive me for elbowing her in the face…feel a little bad about that._

_We're back at Bobby's though. Dean is working on the Impala. Sam and him are talking…probably about their behavior. They have both been acting weird. Neither are really all that open about how they're feeling whereas me well…compared to them I'm a regular sob fest. Honestly I have to stupidest brothers sometimes. I think that_

* * *

Melody glanced up and saw Sam walk back to the main house quickly. She was sitting a few feet away in a shaded spot as she watched her older brother work on the car. They had been talking and as Sam walked off, she could see Dean's clenched, tight jaw.

He picked up a crowbar, seemed to weigh it in his hands and then smashed the crowbar into a car window. Melody slowly stood up, forgetting completely about her open journal as it topple to the ground. Dean breathed heavily, not noticing his sister, and began slamming the crowbar onto the trunk of the Impala repeatedly.

Melody almost ran over to him, terrified of her brother's sudden fit of rage and stopped just a few feet away watching as he continued to pound against the car. Finally he stopped, panting and leaned against the trunk of the car, crowbar falling to the ground.

Dean finally took notice of his sister. Turning to face her he fought his quivering lip and tightened his fists. Slowly, Melody closed the distance between them as she stared up at her big brother. "D…Dean?"

He fumed, "Leave me alone." And turned his back on her fighting back the onslaught of tears that he knew would come up soon. He heard Melody whimper and looked back, concerned. She had her arms held out, the way a child would silently ask for a hug, and started sobbing.

"P…p-please Dean…" Letting out his own shaking, sharp breath he quickly grabbed his baby sister and felt her bury her face into his shoulder. They both cried together and Dean swallowed, resting his chin on her shoulder he started to sing very softly, just loud enough for himself and her to hear,

"When the night has come…and the land is dark," he felt Melody tighten her grip around him and he gently ran a hand over her hair, "and the moon is the only light we'll see."

Sniffling Melody began to sing the next part, "No I won't…be a-afraid oh I won't…be afraid just as long as," she let out a loud sob and blubbered the next line, "you s-stand…"

She couldn't finish it and only cried louder burying her head into Dean's shoulder. As her tears soaked through the fabric of his shirt Dean chocked out the last bit and rocked his sister, "Stand by me…"

* * *

_Ok...Winchesterfeels...everywhere..._

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	15. Blood, Sweat and Tears

**Ok, now that we've all had some time to sob out our Winchesterfeels...it's time for some good old fashioned hunting. Figured we could use to break from the emotional roller coaster and just hunt a ghost for a little bit :) oh and I'm posting a new picture to my tumblr that i worked forever on (!) but it isn't that good, i still need to go get a better photoshop program...but I'm poor..blah! okay I'll stop talking now, thanks to the reviewers and followers! You are all beautiful people :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_September 28, 2006_

_Hey there journal…miss me? Yeah sorry it's been so long since I wrote…well hang on why am I apologizing to a journal. Okay…I think I'm losing my mind. Seriously though that light thing? I saw it in my dream the other night. We didn't talk or anything like before it was just there. And I didn't really acknowledge it either I just accepted that it was there. Like how you would sit in a room quietly with a friend you know like a comfortable silence? We were just enjoying each other's presence or at least I was. The name though. Castiel. It's a really nice name, kind of just rolls off the tongue. Castiel…Caaaasstiellll. Cas…Cas! That's good right? I like it…I'll ask it/him whatever what he thinks next time I see him. _

_Anyways we've been pretty busy. We went to Montana and spent a few days there. It was weird though. This guy Gordon some hunter hated vampires I mean absolutely hated them. so much that he started hunting innocent vamps. I know innocent vamps sounds crazy but this particular clan actually wanted to avoid eating humans. They were sticking to animals. Well we dealt with him, left Gordy tied up to a chair…idiot. Then we went to Illinois dealt with a vengeful spirit of a dead college girl. Then we went to Oklahoma and dealt with this psychic kid who was using his powers to gain favors from people. _

_Well we're at Ellen's place "The Roadhouse" and are about to leave for—I don't know wherever Dean decides we should go next. Maybe Vegas…_

* * *

Melody leaned against the Impala as her brothers stuffed their things into the trunk. "Los Angeles, California." Dean said pointing a finger at Sam.

"What's in L.A.?" Sam asked him standing next to his big sister and Dean answered him,

"A young girls been kidnapped by an evil cult."

Melody raised her brow and crossed her arms, "This girl got a name?"

"Katie Holmes," he replied flatly. Melody and Sam chuckled,

"You know," Sam sighed leaning his arms on top of the car, "that was funny. And for you…so bitchy."

Dean grinned and started unlocking the car but stopped when they heard raised voices coming from inside the bar. It sounded like Ellen and her daughter Jo were going at it. "Of course on the other hand…catfight." Dean said and all three siblings quickly entered the bar to see what was going on.

Melody was the first to walk in and saw Ellen and Jo standing by some tables. Ellen slammed down a stool, "I am your mother! I don't have to be reasonable!"

"You can't keep me here!" Jo shouted back at her throwing out her arms and following her mother as she walked down the steps toward the bar. Ellen clenched her fists,

"Oh don't bet on that sweetie!"

Jo fumed, "What are you gonna chain me up in the basement?"

"You know what you've had worse idea than that recently," Ellen barked back at her daughter slamming down another barstool she had been cleaning. Taking a few steps away she turned back to Jo and pointed an accusing finger at her, "You don't want to stay? Don't stay—go back to school!"

"I didn't belong there! I was a freak with a knife collection!"

Ellen angrily wiped down a table, "Oh yeah but getting yourself killed on some dusty back road—_that's_ where you belong?"

Jo clenched her jaw and stopped. She had finally taken notice of the Winchesters standing in the background watching the whole scene unfold. Ellen followed where her daughter was looking. When she glanced over her shoulder at the three she sighed, "Guys, bad time."

Melody mouthed, "Sorry." while she heard her Sam give her a firm, "Yes, ma'am."

Dean grinned, "Yeah, we rarely drink before ten anyway." They took that as their queue to leave and started walking back toward their car. But Jo's voice stopped them,

"Wait," she said walking around to stand in front of the siblings, "I want to know what they think about this."

Ellen rolled her eyes, "I don't care what they think!"

"Are you guys open?" Melody looked back to see a family of four, all wearing matching "Nebraska is for Lovers" yellow t-shirts. Ellen and Jo both turned on them and shouted,

"Yes!"

"No!"

The father of the family, obviously catching on to the tension chuckled nervously, "We'll just check out the Arby's down the road."

Melody scratched her head, "Well…this is awkward…" she mumbled to her brothers who could only nod in agreement. Jo looked like she was going to say something again but was interrupted by the shrill sound of the bar telephone ringing. Jo gave her mother a 'it's your phone' look and Ellen let out a sharp breath as she walked around the bar to answer it.

Now that her mother was distracted Jo grabbed a stack of papers from the bar and handed them to the siblings, "Three weeks ago, a young girl disappears from a Philadelphia apartment."

She held out the pages for Dean who just stared at her. Jo rolled her eyes, "Take it. It won't bite."

"No, but you mom might." Dean said giving Ellen a quick glance. Jo didn't let up and pushed the papers closer to Dean. Giving the young girl a flat, dead eyed look he took the stack of papers from her and Jo began to explain,

"This girl wasn't the first. Over the past eighty years, six women have vanished—all from the same building, all young blondes. It only happens every decade or two, so cops never eyeball the pattern." Melody looked over Dean's shoulder as he fingered through the papers. Jo shrugged, "So, we're either dealing with one very old serial killer or—"

"Who put this together? Ash?" Dean stopped her and Jo shook her head,

"I did it myself."

Melody gave Jo a praising grin, "Nice work Joey."

The girl crossed her arms, "Don't call me that…"

"Oh come on, it's cute," Melody felt her grin widen as she gently punched the girl's arm. Sam ignored the girls and shrugged,

"You know I got to admit, we hit the road for a lot less."

"Good," Ellen said coming around the bar, "if you like the case so much _you_ take it."

"Mom!" Jo tried to argue but her mother would not hear it,

"Joanna Beth, this family has lost enough. I won't lose you too." Ellen looked at the Winchesters, saw understanding written on their faces and looked back at her daughter, "I just won't."

* * *

"I feel kind of bad," Sam said whipping out his EMF detector, "snaking Jo's case." Dean closed the apartment door behind them and followed his sister as they walked around the entry way of the latest victim's apartment.

Dean shrugged, "Well, maybe she put together a good file. But could you see her out here working one of these things?" he pulled out his own EMF detector, "I don't think so."

Melody ran her eyes along the walls and floor boards, "Everyone has to have their first hunt Dean. This would have been a good one for her."

"Yeah…" he didn't seem to be listening and looked back at Sam, "you getting anything?"

Sam moved the EMF around, "No…not yet—" he stopped. The whirring sounds of the detector started to go off as he got closer to the wall right next to the door. Melody followed where the device was pointing and squinted her eyes at an open socket. There was a black ooze coming out of the tiny hole. Reaching out she gently touched the black goo and moved it around between her thumb and forefinger,

"Eugh…what is it?" she cringed and wiped the ooze off her finger.

Dean and Sam both touched the goo as well, the youngest let out a breath, "Holy crap…"

"That's ectoplasm." Dean said wiping his own finger off, "Well I think I know what we're dealing with here." He looked at his siblings with a deadly serious face, "It's the stay-puft marshmallow man."

Melody scoffed, "You are such a child."

He grinned at her while Sam just rolled his eyes and ignored the bad joke, "Guys I've only seen this stuff like twice. I mean to make this stuff; you have to be one majorly pissed-off spirit."

"Alright," Dean nodded wrapping an arm around his sister and pulling her in for a quick side hug, "let's find this badass before he snags anymore girls."

They left the apartment room soon after and were walking down the hall quietly when they heard a pair of voices just around the corner. The siblings quickly put their backs against the far wall as they listened to the conversation.

"…all the apartments come furnished too," a man's voice echoed down at them.

"That is so convenient." Melody felt her eyes widen. Was that…Jo? The girl kept talking and it only confirmed it for Melody that was none other than little spit-fire Jo talking down the hall. The siblings all exchanged looks of confusion. Jo's voice got clearer as she and the apartment owner came around the corner. Standing up straight Dean stared at her,

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Jo seemed surprised for a half second but quickly covered it and walked up to Dean, "There you are honey." She wrapped an arm around his waist and Melody looked back at Sam and mouthed,

"Honey?" Her youngest brother could only shrug his shoulders and they both looked back at the unfolding scene.

"This is my boyfriend Dean and our friends Sam and Melody," Jo explained looking back at the apartment owner. The man seemed to buy the story and shook Dean's hand firmly,

"Good to meet you. Quite a gal you got here."

"Yeah, she's a pistol." Dean slapped her back firmly and chuckled.

Jo ignored his tone and asked, "Did you already check out the apartment? The one for rent."

Dean seemed confused for a moment but quickly caught on, "Y-yeah yes. We did. _Great_ flow."

The renter eyed him curiously, "How'd you get it?"

"It was open," Dean answered quickly. Jo tried to distract the man by asking,

"Now, Ed, when did the last tenant move out?"

Ed had to think for a moment before he answered, "Uh, about a month ago. Cut and run, me for the rent."

"Well, her loss our gain," Jo smiled, "cause if Deano loves it, it's good enough for me."

Melody caught the girl's eyes and mouthed at her, "Deano?" while her older brother patted Jo on the back firmly again and chuckled, "Oh sweetie…"

Jo fought back a grimace and pulled out a large wad of cash, handing it to Ed she said, "We'll take it."

* * *

Melody sat down across from Jo with Sam next to them. They had set up a sort of base camp in the apartment. Blueprints of the building and anything else Jo had gathered were scattered across the table top. Jo started explaining the history of the place to the Winchesters while she idly flipped a small knife in her hand,

"This place was built in 1924. It was originally a warehouse, converted into apartments a few months ago."

"What was here before that?" Melody asked her glancing at the many articles she had piled in front of her.

Jo shrugged, "Nothing, just empty fields."

Dean paced back and forth behind her while Sam chewed his lip and said, "So the most likely scenario—someone died bloody in the building and now he's back and raising hell."

"I already checked," Jo said looking at him, "in the past eighty-two years, zero violent deaths. Unless you count a janitor who slipped on a wet floor." Melody rested her chin in her hands while Jo rolled her eyes and glanced back at Dean, "Would you sit down, please?"

He glared at her back then slowly took the seat next to her, "So have you checked the police reports or, county death records?"

"Obituaries, mortuary reports, and seven other sources," Jo answered not hiding her annoyance at all, "I know what I'm doing."

"I think the jury's still out on that one." Dean said sarcastically to her. Jo could only roll her eyes and began to flip her knife around again. "Would you put the knife down?" Dean asked not hiding his annoyance either.

Melody crossed her arms over her chest as Jo gently put down her knife, "Okay so it's something else then?"

Sam noticing how Melody tried to distract everyone from the tension nodded at her, "Maybe some kind of cursed object that brought a spirit with it."

"We'd have to scan the whole building," Melody said as she pulled her hair back into a loose bun. Jo looked at her eagerly,

"Everywhere we can get to right?"

Dean nodded, "Right so," he leaned in toward Jo, "you and me—we'll take the top two floors. Sam and Mels can take the rest."

He stood out of his chair but was stopped by Jo standing in front of him, "We'd move faster if we split up."

Dean grinned down at her, "Oh this isn't negotiable."

* * *

Melody walked out of the bathroom in fresh clothes and damp hair. She nearly jumped back when she saw Jo sitting on the bed, same little knife in her hands. They had investigated the entire building and had only found a ball of blonde hair attached to some skin.

"I got a question for you," Jo said stuffing her knife into her pocket. Melody felt her brow scrunch in confusion and walked over to her bag,

"Okay…shoot." She sat down on the bed with Jo. The girl turned to her and asked, point blank,

"Is this the life that you want?"

Melody froze, not expecting _that_ kind of question. She struggled for an answer, "Well…god I mean…I don't know anything else. I couldn't even begin to _want_ another life because I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

"Do you think your parents wanted you to have this life?" Jo asked her crossing her arms and Melody had to pause. This was getting way too personal for her. So instead of trying to gently deflect the question, Melody went on the defensive—a Winchester trait.

"Why do we suddenly want to know so much about my life? You know Joey, I'm starting to get the feeling these questions are more about you then me."

Jo scoffed, "And what if they are?"

Melody stood up from her seat, "Look Jo…you actually have a living parent. I just had to bury my father, and I can hardly remember what my own mother looks like—"

"So you're saying I should feel lucky?"

"Yes!" Melody fumed and took a breath, "Your mother doesn't want you to get stuck in this shit job. It's not all saving the day every day. Half the time, it's blood, sweat and a hell of a lot of tears. And don't think swinging that knife around and getting snippy with my brother doesn't hide anything. Cause believe me I can see right through that exterior of yours."

Jo stood from the bed arms still crossed and snapped, "Don't treat me like I'm a child, you aren't here to boss me around."

"Well maybe I should, you've been acting like you know what you're doing but you don't. You have no idea what it takes to do this…and I don't want you to have to find out." That seemed to calm Jo down a bit and Melody swallowed the lump forming in her throat and continued, "Jo…this life it…it takes away so much from you—"

"Don't alright? I've heard it one-thousand different ways already." She stopped Melody, holding out a hand. Melody fumed for a second, clenched her fists and said in as calm a voice she could come up with,

"Then you obviously haven't heard it enough. And I hope you listen at least once…before it's too late"

Turning on her heel, Melody threw open the bedroom door picked up her discarded boots and walked past her brothers who were sitting at the table. "Everything alright?" Sam asked her watching his sister storm off.

"Fine," Melody growled walking toward the entrance.

Dean slowly stood up, "Where are you going?"

"Out…to sleep in the car—don't follow me," she barked as she saw Dean start to walk toward her. Luckily, he knew when his little sister needed her space and let her go. Sam grimanced as the door was slammed shut, and could feel the walls and floors vibrate from the impact.

Melody, still in her socks pounded down the hallway and toward the stairs. She stopped halfway down the second step and pulled on her shoes then continued to walk down the stairs. She could hardly see straight let alone breath evenly. She wasn't angry at Jo…just angry at what Jo had made her realize. Her life, the life of a hunter had taken away everything. The possibility of having her own family, her own parents, her dreams.

Jo had been right. For a while when she was younger, Melody had always dreamed of another life. She had always wanted to be a singer. To be up on the stage in a glittering outfit with the whole crowd singing along with her. But she of course squashed that dream down when she was old enough to understand why they lived the way they did. No hunter who has grown up with the knowledge that she has would dare to try and just stop. It's hard to quit when all you see everywhere are signs of monsters or ghosts…and especially when you feel an obligation to do something about it.

Finally Melody found herself in the lobby of the apartment building and sat down on the last step. She rested her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. She just needed to be left alone for a few minutes. After that, she would go back up, apologize to Jo and everything would be peachy again. Melody sighed, "I need a drink…"

Several minutes passed, and Melody felt her eyes begin to droop. Standing up slowly she stretched out her legs and started to walk up the steps but stopped…she heard whispering coming from around the corner.

Realizing she had no weapon she clenched her fists and began to walk around the brick wall silently. The whispering got louder and louder as she got closer. Preparing herself for the worst, Melody quickly popped around the corner and saw…nothing.

"You're losing it Mels," she rubbed her forehead and slowly turned back around, "maybe I should forget about that dri—"

Melody froze. Standing in front of her was a tall, hulking man. He had white, wispy hair and sickly eyes. He was breathing heavy, staring at her with what looked like…desire?

"Erm…hello s-sir…" she let out a shaky breath and saw it puff out in the air. That's when she felt incredibly cold and realized. This was the thing that was taking all those girls. All of those…blonde girls. Melody reached up a hand to touch her golden hair, she had completely forgotten about that little detail. Before she felt something solid hit the back of her head and the cold wood floor against her face one word, one simple word ran through her mind…oops.

* * *

Dean felt stiff. Rolling over he nearly fell off the side of the couch he had slept on. "Morning princess," Jo smiled at him from the table.

"Where's Sam?" he grumbled stretching his aching arms.

Jo twirled her knife, "Went to get coffee." Slowly Dean sat up and groaned,

"Oh…my back." He walked over to join her at the table, "How'd you sleep on that big, soft bed?"

"I didn't," Jo shrugged and gestured to the table, "I've just been going over everything." Dean watched her twirl the little knife around her fingers for a minute then picked up his bag. Setting it down on the table he reached in and pulled out his own hunting knife. Giving it to her handle first he said,

"Here."

"What's this for?" she asked taking the knife.

"It'll work a hell of a lot better than that little pigstick you've been twirling around." Jo stopped and handed him her knife handle first. Dean took it giving her a questioning look and inspected the tiny blade. He felt his heart drop, the initials "W.A.H." were carved into the base of the blade.

Jo seemed to get a bit chocked up when she explained, "William Anthony Harvelle." Dean realized what it meant to her,

"Sorry, my mistake." He gave her back the knife taking his own hunting blade back from her. As he stuffed the large blade back into his back he heard Jo ask,

"What…what do you remember about your dad? What's the first thing that pops into your head?" Dean shook his head seeming to say he didn't want to talk about it but Jo pushed, "Come on, tell me."

"Uh…" Dean chewed his lip and set the bag down, "I was six or seven…" he took a seat at the table next to her and continued, "and…he took me shooting for the first time. You know, bottles on a fence—that kind of thing. I bull's-eyed every one of them. And he would smile like…"

Dean tried to finish but trailed off instead, afraid that he would start to cry in front of the girl. Jo smiled fondly, "He must have been proud." Dean could only chuckle and ask slowly,

"What about your dad?"

Jo took in a deep breath, "I was still in pigtails when my dad died, but…I remember him coming home from a hunt. He's burst through that door like—like Steve McQueen or something. And he'd sweep me up in his arms, and I'd breathe in that old leather jacket of his. And my mom—who was sour and pissed from the minute he left—she started smiling again. And we were…we were a family."

She felt her voice shake and swallowed letting herself calm down again. Dean was kind enough to let her sit quietly for a moment. "You want to know why I want to do the job?" she asked Dean and answered when he gave her a 'go ahead' nod, "For him. It's my way of being close to him. Now tell me, what's wrong with that?"

Dean stared at her then shook his head and whispered, "Nothing." Jo went back to twirling her little knife between her fingers. Dean could only watch her, a new-found connection between the two.

Before he could think any further the door burst open, Sam panting as he came in. "Where's the coffee?" Dean asked him then looked around, "And where's Mels?"

"I don't know…Dean there are cops outside. It looks like another girl disappeared."

Dean hardly registered the cops and girl disappearing as he stood up, "What do you mean you don't know where Melody is?"

Sam threw out his arms, "I don't know, I went to the car and she wasn't there. Maybe she went to go get coffee herself."

"Well did you try calling her?" Dean found his leather jacket and pulled it on, Jo standing up concerned as well.

"Of course I did, she didn't answer it went straight to voicemail…" Sam stopped and clenched his jaw, "Dean she was in the building alone last night. She fits the description of the victims…what if—"

"No, absolutely not," Dean grumbled walking out of the apartment, "You stay here, try her cell again. I'll go find out what's going on with the cops _and_ find Melody."

* * *

Dean slammed his sledgehammer into the wall. He was near desperate. Once they had found out exactly who was haunting the place. The one and only H.H. Holmes, he knew they needed to find his sister…fast. How could he have been so stupid? He knew, he knew from the start that all the victims were young, pretty blondes and his sister was the exact match. Now they were digging through the walls, looking for any space big enough that a girl could fit in. Dean never prayed a lot but this time…he was praying desperately to find his baby sister—alive.

Now he and Jo were shuffling through the walls with flashlights and weapons. He needed to find her, Dean would find Melody. And the next time she had a little fit, he would tie her down to a damn chair if she ever tried to leave again.

"Okay, call us when you reach the southeast wall." Jo hung up her phone and stuffed it into her pocket, "Sam's almost done with the first floor. He hasn't found jack squat, either."

They came around a corner; the wall had almost completely narrowed. Dean let out a sharp breath, "It's too narrow. We can't go any further."

Jo, also desperate to help find Melody who she had taken a slow liking to squeezed past Dean, "Let me see." She got halfway but they both got stuck, her back pressed into Dean's stomach.

Dean with his hands up let out a short breath, "I should have cleaned the pipes." Jo scrunched up her brow,

"What?"

"I just wish the uh…" Dean swallowed, "the pipes were clean."

Jo rolled her eyes and elbowed his stomach hard, "Shut-up," she growled then pointed her flashlight down the path, "I can fit in there."

Dean shook his head, "You're not going in there by yourself."

"You got a better idea?" she asked him and Dean could only stutter. Jo sighed and pushed past him eliciting a grunt of pain from the man. She edged along the narrow path way, pulling out her phone and pressing it to her ear in order to keep in contact with Dean.

_"Where are you?" _he asked over the line, she could still hear his voice echoing down towards her. Jo came around a corner,

"By the north wall." She stopped and saw a drop off further up. Kneeling down underneath the pipes she came to the end of the short path way. Climbing over and keeping the phone pressed between her ear and shoulder she spoke to Dean again, "I'm heading down some kind of air duct."

_"No, no, no stay up here." _Dean said quickly but Jo clipped back at him,

"Do you want to find your sister or not?" she breathed heavily as she gripped the edge of the air duct, "I'm okay."

Dean sighed then said quickly, _"Alright I'm heading to you."_

Jo dropped down. Keeping her phone pressed to her ear she moved down the new path, getting stuck between the wall and a group of pipes. She cursed silently and tried to look further up the hall but only saw dark. Then she smelled that scent…chloroform. Looking over she saw black ooze—ectoplasm coming out of the walls.

She felt her heart drop, "Oh god…"

* * *

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	16. Birthday Cake and Secrets

**Omg this chapter! BIG BIG reveals coming up for you folks, hope you like surprises cause I sure dooo! Oh and to my reviewers, I love you all! You guys have been the ones who have helped keep me going on this story. Say it with me, I believe in Melody Winchester! Lol, no really though thank you sooooooooo much! I couldn't have asked for better reviews, I may have said this before already but I will say it again...you are all beautiful people :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_"Wake up! Melody! Wake…up…!"_

Melody gasped as she opened her eyes and immediately started coughing. Her throat felt raw like she had swallowed a thousand different needles. She took in a deep breath, and smelled…rust, rot, death and decay mixed in with that gas scent. But…no that's not gas it's…chloroform. Melody threw back her head, she should have known, she shouldn't have been so stupid and run off on her own.

But now was not the time to have a pity party. She could hardly see anything. Then realized she still had her phone in her pocket. She turned it on, finding several messages from Sam and Dean. Oh no…they were probably killing themselves looking for her. Melody shook her head, ignored the messages and turned the screen around to inspect where she was.

She was lying down in what looked like a rusted old furnace. She could hear steam going off somewhere in the distance. Moving the phone around she saw that the space she was in was just large enough for her to lie down in and not much else. The ceiling of her cage was covered in…blood. It was obvious that this is where the spirit had kept his victims. To do what with she wasn't quite sure.

Melody heard a whimper and turned to her left. There were tiny holes on the door that she could see out of. Looking around she saw at least six other doors that matched hers in a hexagonal shaped room. "H-hello?" Melody croaked out in her weak voice.

She heard dripping water and then a door slam. "Hello?" Melody peeked out the gaps and sighed with relief,

"Jo…it got you too huh?"

The young hunter stared at her through the tiny gaps in her door and stuck a few fingers through it, "Melody…thank god you're still alive, I was right."

"What do you mean?"

"It's Holmes. H. H. Holmes' spirit has been taking the girls." Melody felt her heart drop. Oh she knew everything there was to know about the infamous serial killer and it did not make her feel any better. Honestly she'd rather not know anything about the mass murderer…it would probably have made the entire situation a lot easier to deal with.

"So let me guess…he's going to watch us starve to death? Well…good luck with that buddy." Melody grumbled looking around for some type of escape. She couldn't find one and heard another whimper.

This time a new girl popped up, "Is—is anybody there?"

Jo stared at the new girl, "Your name's Theresa?"

Theresa cried, "Yes…"

"This won't make you feel better," Jo said, "but I'm here to rescue you." Melody lay back flat on her back and shined her phone's light all around the tiny cell again. There was something, there was _always_ something.

Theresa whimpered, "Oh god. He's out there. He's gonna kill us!"

"No he won't!" Jo said determinately, "We're getting out. Melody your brothers are looking for us—they'll find us."

"Well that's a relief," Melody mumbled looking at the area by her boots…nothing. She closed her phone to save the battery and put it back in her pocket. Turning to now lie on her side she peeked out the gaps in the door again. A shadow fell across the entrance and Theresa screamed,

"Oh god it's him!"

"Just…be quiet." Melody said to her harshly trying to get a good look at Holmes. There was nothing, just dead air. Then she heard Jo scream and cry out in pain and a man's voice grumble. "Jo! Hey! You get your ugly hands off her!" Melody yelled across at Holmes's back.

That seemed to get his attention. He stocked over at her, tuft of white blonde hair in his hand and bent down to be eye level with Melody. "Try it Holmes…I dare you…" she growled.

The spirit reached in, trying to grab for her hair but Melody backed up against the far wall. She growled and felt her rage bubble up and out of her stomach. Jo heard a snarl come from Melody's cage. Clutching her now sore head she peeked out and tried to get a look at what was going on. All she saw was the spirit's back but the sounds she heard coming from Melody…they didn't sound like Melody.

For a moment, Holmes disappeared. Still holding on to the rage Melody peeked out the gaps in her door. The room was dead silent…too silent.

"Ah!" Melody cried out as a dirty, wretched hand shot in and grabbed at her hair. She screamed, trying to break his hold on her head but Holmes only tightened his grasp. He started to pull only bringing out more yelps of pain from Melody. She heard tearing and ripping as Holmes yanked back, taking a tuft of golden blonde hair with him. He pulled the clump of hair towards his face, seemed to smell it, gave Melody one last look then disappeared. Melody fell back clutching at her sore hair line. Her head felt light and spots began to dance at the edge of her vision. Melody groaned and leaned her head back pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Melody what the hell was that?" Jo panted.

"Haven't done that…in a while…or for that long…" Melody said gasping for air. She felt the blood rush to her head and mumbled, "Hey Jo…tell my brothers they're…morons…"

Jo peeked through the gap in her cell door. "Melody?" she whispered harshly and got no answer. She tried calling out to her again but heard nothing. Jo chewed her lip, and pushed down the fear that crawled up her spine. She was alone now. Great…just great.

* * *

Sam led his brother as they walked down the streets. He had a metal detector in his hand and Dean had one very large shovel. They had narrowed down their search to an old, abandoned sewer. Sam searched frantically running the metal detector everywhere. They needed to find the girls. Melody would be fine…or would she? What if Holmes took a particular liking to one of them and decided to have his fun quickly? What if he's already taken Melody out? She has been there for at least half a day. What if…no. Sam would not let his mind start to race off into the whole "what if" scenarios. Melody was a hunter-a fighter-and if anyone could survive spending a few hours trapped in Holmes's prison…his big sister could.

The metal detector started squealing as he walked toward a grassy area. Coming to a stop, the detector whirred loudly at them. "Here…" Sam pointed at the area in the middle of the open lot. Dean whipped out his shovel and started pulling up clumps of dirt while Sam kept an eye out for any onlookers.

Dean shoveled out about half a foot of dirt before he hit metal. Tossing down his shovel, the brothers started moving aside the loose dirt until finally they saw an old sewer cover. They each took hold of the handles and lifted, grunting with effort as they pulled open the cover.

Handing a shotgun to his younger brother, Dean got out his own weapon and a flashlight. He checked the rusted, ancient ladder system gave Sam a 'well here goes nothing' look then stepped down into the dark tunnel.

* * *

_BANG!_

Melody felt her entire skull begin to pound. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes…then groaned louder when she remembered where she was.

_BANG! BANG!_

Turning on her side, she peaked out to see what all the noise was. Then she heard Jo grunt with pain. Melody sighed, "No luck I take it?"

Jo laid her head back, panting and ignoring her slowly bruising knee, "No…" Melody chewed her lip and gripped the door giving it a good shake…nothing. She looked back out to try and get Jo's attention but gasped and felt a chill run down her spine,

"Uh…Jo…he's…"

Holmes was standing outside of Jo's door breathing heavily. He stared at her and then whispered, "You're so pretty…so beautiful."

"Go to hell." Jo grumbled at him seeing Melody's bright hazel eyes from across her she tried to give her an 'I'm alright look' but failed. Holmes's ugly hand reached in for her and Jo backed up as far as she could in the tiny cell. She let out a disgusted groan when she felt his cold, dead skin on her neck. Fighting the urge to scream she waited for the right moment. Holmes ran his fingers over her shoulder and down her arm, breathing increasing as he went.

Jo roared and flipped around taking her knife and sending it clean through Holmes's hand. He screamed and pulled back. "How do you like that?!" she cried out in triumph, "Pure iron, you creepy-ass son of a bitch!"

Melody grinned, "Why haven't I thought of that?" and peered out her door. All was quiet…no sign of the ghost. Then the room felt deathly cold again.

"Is he…is he gone?" Theresa called from her cell. Jo clutched her knife and peeked through at the other girls,

"I don't know…" she heard a low moaning. Melody heard it too and gripped her door in anticipation. She heard Jo let out a yelp of surprise and saw Holmes standing outside her door. He shushed her as he stuck his hand into the cell.

Melody growled and shook her door, "Get off her! Let her go!" Holmes glared at her over his shoulder and before she could blink, he was at her own door gripping her face with his cold, clammy hand. She let out a scream against his hand and fought against his strong hold. Melody tried to "power-up" as she had begun to call it but couldn't. She felt so drained, and the smell of chloroform began to take over her senses, her lids felt heavier and heavier…

"Hey!" someone shouted, then a loud gunshot echoed against the walls and Holmes was sent flying backwards yelling out in anger. Melody coughed and wheezed as she heard her older brother, "Jo! Mels!"

"We're here!" Jo called from her cell and Melody leaned her face against the door,

"Guys! Oh thank god!" she let out a sob of relief when she saw Dean's wide, fearful eyes in front of her but quickly shook her head and pointed a finger out the peep holes. "No, no, no! Get Jo first, I'll be fine…now Dean!"

He hesitated but did as she wanted and ran over to where he saw Jo's fingers. Grabbing a fallen piece of rebar he stuck it into the latches on the door and pulled. Sam shined his light into Melody's cell and quickly grabbed hold of her fingers, "I'm getting you out of there."

Melody gripped his hand tightly then shook her head and pointed, "There's another girl…Theresa, get her before you get me." Sam stared at her,

"No way in hell am I leaving you with that thing still out there."

"Do it Sam! I'll be fine…" the youngest stared at her for a moment, gave her fingers another quick squeeze then went over to Theresa's cell grabbing the rebar from Dean who was beginning to pull Jo out of her own cell.

Jo coughed and shook Dean's concerned hands off of her, "Give me the gun, I'll watch out for Holmes. Get Melody." Nodding, he handed her the shotgun and quickly bent down in front of his sister's cell. He sighed with relief and took her fingers into his hands like Sam had.

"I'm getting you out of there squirt."

Melody smiled, "Take your time, I'm not going anywhere." She saw her brother fight a grin as Sam handed him the rebar. Half a minute later, Melody was freed from her cell gripping her older brother's arms tightly.

As Sam held a trembling Theresa, Jo coughed, "Let's get the hell out of here before he comes back."

"Actually," Dean held out a hand to stop her, "I don't think you're leaving here just yet."

Jo stared up at him through her messy hair with wide eyes, "What?"

"Remember when I said you being bait was a bad plan? Now it's kind of the only one we got."

* * *

Melody gripped her pistol tightly, "I still don't know why I couldn't have been the bait." Dean gave her a deathly stare and adjusted the hold he had on his shotgun,

"Because I'm the oldest and I say so." If looks could kill, Dean would be keeled over on the floor by now. Melody felt her jaw set and she looked through the grating ignoring the sudden urge to pommel her big brother right there. Instead she focused on Jo, who was sitting in the middle of the room they had been locked up in. As much as Melody had argued and insisted that she was the better one for the bait, Dean would not hear it.

She hated it when Dean got like this. She was old enough to make her own decisions and protect herself. Hell, she was a better shot then both of her brothers and a lot faster and more experienced than Jo.

Melody unlocked the safety of her pistol silently. Jo seemed to be feeling more and more anxious. Her shoulders visibly tensed up and the air turned deathly cold. Melody slowly lifted her weapon when she saw the dark figure of H.H. Holmes appear out of the shadows behind Jo. He stalked up behind her, terrifyingly slow. Melody could hear him breathing softly, deliberately…like he was holding back all of his excitement.

Before he could get within a foot near Jo, Dean aimed his weapon out through the grates, "Now!" he shouted and Sam and Melody mirrored him, sticking their guns out. The boys shot at the far wall, knocking down a bag of salt, and Melody shot off three quick rounds, knocking down three different salt bags as well.

Dean opened the grate and pulled Jo through. Melody grabbed her arms, helping her in as the girl kneeled down next to her. They shut the grate and Holmes could only look around at his new prison. Pure salt now lined the entire perimeter of the room, locking Holmes in place. The spirit whimpered and his eyes widened with pure terror.

"Scream all you want!" Jo yelled at him, "There's no way you're stepping over that salt!"

Holmes faced the group and stared at Jo holding out his hands as if he was begging and just screamed at them, "Aah! Aahh!

* * *

_September 29, 2006_

_Well…that got really awkward. Ellen came in right when we finished up taking care of Holmes-buried him in cement and everything-and then we all drove back to her place. Probably the most uncomfortable car ride I've ever had to sit through. Well then we find out that Jo's dad died because of…our dad. The last hunt Jo's father went on was with my dad and…yeah…_

_It was pretty scary down there in the sewers. The only thing that kept me going was well…the voice. Someone kept waking me up every time I would black out down there. Kept shouting at me, screaming right in my ear. I appreciate being looked out for but seriously, next time I'd rather be shaken or slapped then yelled at. Maybe not slapped…that would hurt…_

_We're driving around now, Sam fell asleep and Dean is just kind of brooding in the front. Something's up with him. I remember at dad's funeral when we burned his body Sam asked if dad said anything to Dean about well anything really. And Dean said no. But…I get the feeling he was lying. I know my big brother; can read him like an open book and I can tell when he isn't being straight with me. No matter how good of a poker face he thinks he has._

_I don't know…here's hoping I get him to come clean right?_

* * *

_October 31, 2006_

_Sometimes my brothers can be absolutely perfect. If you didn't already know it's my birthday today-I turned 25. Well since my birthday falls on Halloween it's always been kind of weird for us to celebrate it since we know the stuff that can happen on all hallows eve and activity is usually doubled during this day-especially when night rolls around. Luckily it wasn't so bad this year. I'll start with how the day began…_

_Sam and Dean were acting all nonchalant and bored. We had gone to the coast on my request but neither really seemed too enthusiastic about it. Hell I didn't even remind them it was my birthday, I was afraid something bad would happen. Anyways all morning they were being all quiet and practically ignoring me. Seriously I almost shot Dean in the leg just to get a reaction out of him. But nope, they just kinda laid around the motel room and I was forced to read some of Sam's books…boring._

_So about mid-afternoon Dean and Sam get up, claiming they were going to go get some food, asked if I wanted to come but I was so pissed and upset I just said no and stayed in the room. They left and not thirty minutes later, I get a call from Sam. He sounds panicked and frantic and tells me to go to this certain address, something had attacked them and Dean was knocked out cold. So I freak out, grab my gun, run out the door, steal some poor slobs car and haul ass. The address they gave me was some old abandoned shack by the water and I burst in, gun up only to find…_

_A cake. A big, pumpkin shaped cake complete with jack-o-lantern decorations and everything. Sam and Dean had on these ridiculous pink birthday hats, and there were the numbers "25" sticking out of the top of the cake with the words "Happy B-Day Mels" written in white frosting across the cake's face. Honestly I think I nearly cried…might have for a second. They sang happy birthday to me and I blew out the candles and we ate cake and drank beer in that little shack all night long. And when the sun came up…my brothers took me down to the water and we all watched the sun rise together. I remember I was standing in the middle of my brothers and I just…felt so happy. I haven't felt like that in a long time._

_I put my arms around my brothers, kissed them both on the cheek-getting a groan from Dean of course-and told them that I love them. And I do, with all my heart. I'd do anything for those morons._

* * *

_November 10, 2006_

_What. The. Hell._

_Let's see in the past week or so we've dealt with…crossroads demons and hellhounds (yeah, real life freaking hellhounds) oh and this crazy ass demon virus that turns the infected into raging homicidal maniacs. I mean…WHAT THE HELL! And apparently…Sam is immune to it. Yeah, Sammy my little brother is immune to this demon virus thing. They called it "Croatoan". Eugh…I would love to never have to deal with that ever again in my life. The people would look and act completely normal and then "snap!" they would turn on you and just attack for no reason. We're resting up right now but…damn all I can say is what a week. It's almost my turn for the bed. Not sure if I told you this but Sam and I always take turns sleeping. We've both always kind of been morning people so we don't really need that much sleep. So he sleeps for about six or seven hours, then I get the bed after him. Sometimes if we're lucky there'll be a couch in our room or even a pull-out bed but not tonight. Tonight we do it the hard way. Anyways that's been my week…freaking croatoan virus…_

* * *

"Before dad died," Dean said letting out a sharp breath. His brother and sister had finally cracked him. And he was telling them the secrets his father had told him. Dean did not want to do this, but honestly it was-hopefully-going to make him feel a little better. He felt like he was carrying the weight of the entire world on his shoulders and continued to tell the secret, "he told me something…something about you and…Melody."

Sam and Melody both gave him anxious looks. The park they were in hummed and whistled as the wind rushed past the trees and over the small pond at its center. Melody clutched her leather jacket closer to her body fighting off the chilly air as Sam asked him, "What?"

Dean hesitated, seemed like he wasn't going to say anything after all but Melody shook her head nervously, "Dean, what did he say to you?"

"He said that he…" his voice quiveredand he swallowed before continuing, "wanted me to watch out for you two…take care of you."

Sam scoffed, "He told you that a million times."

Dean shook his head looking at his boots, "Well, this time was different. He said that I had to…save you," he mumbled looking directly at Sam. The youngest felt his brow crease in confusion,

"Save me from what?"

"He just said that I had to save you, and nothing else mattered and that if I couldn't I'd…" Dean trailed off, almost like he was afraid of what he had to say.

"You'd what, Dean?" Sam probed for the answer and instantly regretted asking when Dean answered,

"I'd have to kill you." Melody bit her cheek, fighting the urge to drop her jaw in astonishment and only looked at her oldest brother in stunned silence. Dean took a breath and continued, "He said that I might have to kill you Sammy."

"Kill me?" Sam's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he fought back tears, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," Dean shook his head answering him quickly…almost too quickly, Melody noticed how he didn't really look Sam in the eyes when he had said that.

Sam, becoming exasperated and tense threw out his arms, "I mean, he must have had some reason for saying it right? Did he know the demon's plans for me? Am I supposed to go dark side or something?!" he clutched his beer bottle tightly, "What else did he say Dean?!"

"That's it I swear."

"How could you not have told me this?"

Dean gripped his own beer bottle tighter as he answered, "Because it was dad, and he begged me not to."

"Who cares!" Sam screamed getting angrier by the second and pointed a hand at Dean accusingly, "Take some responsibility for yourself Dean! You had no right to keep this from me!"

"You think I wanted this? Huh?" Dean took a step toward him and Melody moved to stand between her brothers, preparing to stop them from getting any sorts of physical. The oldest hardly noticed his sister and continued, "I wish to god he'd never opened his mouth. Then I wouldn't have to walk around with this screaming in my head all day!"

Thankfully they parted. Sam took a couple steps away from Dean, who turned to look out at the water. Sam, always the problem solver looked back, "We each got to figure out what's going on then—what the hell all this means."

"We do?" Dean asked him softly after a moment, "I've been thinking about this. I think we should just lay low, you know. At least for a while—it would be safer. That way I could make sure…"

Sam gave him a staggering look, "What?" he put on a mocking smile, "That I don't turn evil? That I don't turn into some kind of killer?"

"I never said that…" Dean replied calmly but Sam wouldn't hear it,

"Jeez you know what? If you're not careful you will have to waste me one day, Dean."

Melody let her jaw drop this time, "Sam!"

"I never said that!" Dean shouted, "Dammit Sam. This whole thing is spinning out of control. Alright you're immune to some…weirdo demon virus, and I don't even know what the hell anymore." Sam turned away from him and sipped at his beer. Dean continued, "And you're pissed at me that's fine. I deserve it."

_No you don't, _Melody thought reaching out a hand for her brother but stopped…afraid of what might happen should she try to interfere. Dean didn't see his sister reach for him and took a step toward his brother, "But we lay low until we figure out our next move, okay?"

"Forget it," Sam said in quiet anger, and sipped at his beer again.

"Sam please, man," Dean moved closer to him, knocked him on the arm forcing Sam to look at him. "Hey, please…just give me some time," he implored the youngest, "give me some time to think, okay? Please I am _begging_ you…please."

Melody watched Sam's lips move into a thin line as he nodded. Before anyone could say anything else Sam turned and marched off back to the car. Dean sighed and leaned against the rickety wooden fence almost forgetting about the now warm beer in his hand. Melody stood behind him, "Dean?" she tried and luckily her brother wasn't in a sour mood. He bent his head down, sighed and turned back around to face her.

He put on a smile, or tried to and said, "Hey squirt."

"Dean…" she let out a sharp breath and moved to stand a half step closer to him, "what did…what did dad say about me?"

"He said I had to watch out for you, take care of you—that's all."

Melody looked down at her own boots, trying to keep herself calm, "You and I both know there's more to it." Her brother didn't answer, only clenched his jaw and sipped at his beer. Frustrated and anxious Melody stepped up to her brother and grabbed his arms, "Dammit Dean _please_, I need to know…"

He took her hands in his and gently released her hold on him, "Mels I don't…you don't want to know."

"But I _need_ to Dean. I have to know if this thing I can do, if I'll go darkside or…or start going on a rampage or—"

"Hey, hey, Melody stop." Dean gripped her shoulders as she became more and more flustered. It was obvious he had to be truthful with her. Or…not entirely truthful, just give her what she needed to know about her abilities, nothing else. "Alright…look dad told me that you're uh…powers, well they are only seen in rare cases and there are so few that dad wasn't even sure."

Melody stared up at her brother with wide, nervous eyes, "Well what did he tell you?"

Dean took in a deep breath, "He called you a nephilim."

"A…nephilim? What the hell is that?" she reached up and gripped her head tightly, "Oh god…I'm some kind of…_thing _aren't I? Like a damn werewolf or a shifter or…oh god I _am_ going to go on a rampage—"

"Melody. Stop." Dean gave her a hard shake and made sure to lock eyes with her. His voice quivered but his eyes never left hers as he said; "Now I don't know exactly what that means, but it doesn't mean you will go darkside. All dad said was that I have to keep an eye on you and help you…however and in whatever way I can—and I promise you Melody, I will _never_ leave your side. I _will_ help you figure this thing out."

"But Dean, what if…what if I'm not really who I think I am?" she became overwhelmed with emotions and buried her head into his chest. "What if I'm not really your sister?"

Dean pulled her away from his chest and gripped her upper arms tightly, "You listen to me. You are my baby sister. I helped you take your first steps, I taught you how to hold a gun, I was the one who beat up all those idiot boys at school. You. Are. My. Sister. And nothing and no one can ever…_ever_ say otherwise." A lone tear fell down Melody's cheek and Dean reached up to quickly wipe it away. He gripped her golden hair and said softly, "I'll always stand by you squirt."

Melody sniffled and nodded. She wrapped her arms around Dean's middle, resting her head on his shoulder. As he gently rocked her, with the sounds of birds chirping echoed in her ears, Melody could think only about what he had told her. Nephilim…that word…for some reason she knew it. But she couldn't quite put her finger on where she had heard it before.

A shudder ran up her spine and she gripped Dean tighter, afraid to let go and afraid because-whether she would admit it or not-Dean hadn't told her everything. And she knew it.

* * *

_Whaaaaaaaaa? I know, I know! Crazy, crazy revelations! Lol and there is so much more to come too...*sigh* alright I'm calmer now...sort of..._

_Reivew, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	17. Gin? Or Jinn?

**So lots of journal entry for the beginning of this chapter. There was just so much in season 2 that I wanted to keep but it would just be so time consuming and I really need/really really want to get to the later parts of season three and season four so everyone's favorite angel can finally come into the mix. CASTIEL I LOVE YOU! ehem...had to get that out of my system. Alright, prepare yourselves and fair warning. Some Winchesterfeels may be induced by the following chapter :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_November 12, 2006_

_Sam left. He left us. He ran away just like he always does whenever things get too hard…just like when he left for college. This whole life got too hard for him and instead of toughing up and getting over it he runs away! Dean and I have been looking for him for forty-eight hours straight. We haven't slept well I did for about ten minutes but I just can't sleep. Not until we have Sam back._

_He is such a complete, selfish…asshole! I mean what the hell does he want from us? He got all angry with me when I told him what Dean said to me about dad. Sam was all "let's find out what this means" but I agree with Dean. Things are starting to get way too tense and we just need to lay low for a couple of days, get our heads back on straight. Then we can figure out what this whole…dad warning Dean about having to possibly kill Sam and me and my whole nephilim thing. And about that, I know I've heard that word before. Sam felt the same way too and said he'd do some research on it. That was the night he disappeared. He told me to get some sleep and he would research "nephilim" for me while I slept. Of course I fell for it, of course Sam lied and didn't even open up his laptop. He waited for me and Dean to be asleep then snuck out in the middle of the night._

_To be honest I just want Sam back. He's my little moron brother, I need him—whether he knows that or not._

* * *

_November 19, 2006_

_Well we found Sam. It took us a couple of days and with help from Ellen we tracked him down to this motel in Indiana. And get this-Gordon showed up. Tried to kill Sammy and when Dean and I stopped him or tried to, he knocks us out then kidnaps us! He told us about how this demon told him about all the psychic kids and how he's been starting to kill off these people. Honestly Dean and I thought Sam was really dead for a second back there. Luckily Sam had it all planned out, he lead the cops to the house and got Gordon arrested. Good, get that psycho away from my family. Because next time I really will kill him._

_Then Sam wanted us to help him check up on the friend of his, Ava. Well we get to her house and find blood everywhere. Her fiancé was dead, and there was sulfur all around the windows. A demon had killed him and there was no sign of Ava. Sam is pretty broken up about it. I've tried to get him to cheer up, telling him we will find her but…I honestly don't know._

* * *

_January 10, 2007_

_Talk about busy. For a while we had kind of a lull in activity. We celebrated Christmas and New Years without a hitch. Then we head to Connecticut and boom, every monster and ghost decides to wake up. Maybe they took a break for the holidays too. Anyway we dealt with a house filled with…things. Toy things. Eugh._

_Then we had to deal with another shapeshifter, only this time the damn thing got us stuck with this hostage situation and a bank and…yeah let me just say right now. Shapeshifters suck. Anyway we're heading to Rhode Island. Gonna catch up on my sleep…maybe I'll see my friend again. I haven't seen him in a while._

* * *

_April 13, 2007_

_Sorry about that large gap and everything. We've been pretty busy. Let's see, I'll give you a summary of the past couple of months. Let's see Sam went missing for about a week. Then me and Dean had to chase him halfway across the damn country just to freaking find him. After that we headed to Ohio and dealt with a trickster. And let me tell you…that guy was a grade A d-bag. We killed him though after I nearly killed both of my brothers…twice…on separate occasions. Heh…_

_Anyway we went from there to California. Spent a night with a ghost getting rid of another ghost. Weird right? Then we head to San Francisco and handled a werewolf situation. Poor Sam though. This girl—the werewolf—was really sweet. And Sam took a real liking to her and for the first time in a while I saw Sam actually kind of genuinely happy. Then we got to go to LA. Probably the most fun I've ever had on a hunt. We spent a week on this haunted movie set. Dean and I pretended to be production assistants or whatever but it was awesome. We got free food like all the time and Dean and me got to where this super awesome headset things and deal with the cast and directors. It was so much fun._

_And then the very next week what are we doing? Well I'm helping my brothers get arrested so they can investigate this damn haunted prison. I pretty much had to sit that one out. I mean they don't let women into the men's correctional facility so…I got a week to myself. What did I do with myself? I drank, read some of Sam's books…and drank. Honestly I had nothing else to do. I met this random guy uh…Jerry? No…Mike? Er…Wesley? Dammit oh well I don't know but I had a decent time with him for a few nights. Got bored real quick with him though. Thankfully he was just in it for fun like me so it was a mutual, "thanks see ya never again" kind of parting. I know what you're thinking. With all that time why didn't I do research on the word, "nephilim"? Well honestly…I don't want to know. I don't want to find out that I'm…whatever the hell a freaking nephilim is. And I hope I never do find out. Like they say…ignorance is bliss. And I'll gladly stay ignorant of that slice of info for the rest of my short, sad life._

* * *

Melody splashed her face with ice cold water from the sink. She stared at herself in the mirror, wondering exactly who she was. Am I really Melody Jean Winchester? Or am I…ET or hell the "missing link"? Melody scoffed, of course she wouldn't be the freaking equivalent of Tarzan. Although lately…she'd been feeling less and less connected with the real world. The only thing she really looked forward to was her dreams. Hoping she would find her friend there. Castiel. But he never was there…it…whatever.

And was he even her friend? They hardly spoke, and she wasn't sure if the damn light thing was real. It had certainly felt real but then again she once dreamed she was a giant fly and could have sworn in that moment that it was true but she knew it wasn't. So why when she thought about Castiel, thought about the light form and the way it felt when she touched it…why did she know that it was all real?

Sighing and gripping her head, she gave her hair a quick shake and scratched at her scalp. This was too much, just way too much. Stepping out of the bathroom she saw Sam hang up his phone, "You tell him about the jinni?"

Sam nodded, "Yup…and he's going off to investigate this place on his own."

Melody rolled her eyes, "Course he is." She moved and plopped herself down on one of the beds, "How long we gonna give him alone?"

"I'd say," Sam looked down at his watch then sat at the table, "Hour tops?"

She chewed her lip, seemed to think about it then shrugged, "Fine by me. I could use a power nap."

* * *

Dean gasped and shot up straight. Thunder crashed outside of his bedroom, an old cheesy horror movie played on the television by his bed. He looked down at himself and frowned. No shirt, tan sheets…and then he looked to his left and froze. Sleeping, naked girl in the bed next to him…huh.

What the hell. Rubbing his eyes he slowly got out of the bed, flipping off the television and pulling on some clothes. They were his normal clothes, at least that hadn't changed. Quietly he walked out of the bedroom and started investigating the house. It was…beautiful. Soft browns, warm tans surrounded the place. It felt like a home, like a real home. Walking down the hall he peeked around the corner and saw a comfortable living room. Flipping on the light revealed a large, soft couch, even larger and even softer looking recliner and a decent sized TV. There was a guitar sitting just next to the television and a bookshelf built into the far wall.

Okay…what the hell. Dean looked down at the coffee table and saw a familiar sight. His cell phone. Dean grabbed the silver device and scrolled through his emails, trying to figure out what the hell was happening and saw a new one from…Sam.

The email read: _Hey dude…How are you doing man? I'm doing pretty darn good myself! I've been meaning to sit down and write you but I've been so darn busy! I've been meaning to call too but hey what's a fella to—_

Dean stopped there. Not wanting to wait any longer he pressed the call button and held the phone up to his ear. The line rang once and was picked up, _"Dean?"_ he sighed with relief. Sam had answered just like he had hoped.

"Sam."

_"What's going on?" _his brother asked casually. Dean paced the living room nervously,

"I don't know. I don't know where I am."

_"What?" _Sam's voice slowly took over concern, _"What happened?"_

Dean answered him quickly, "Well, the jinn—it attacked me."

_"The gin? You're drinking gin?"_

"No ass-hat," Dean sighed and rubbed his face, "_the_ jinn—the scary creature. Remember? It put its hands on me and then I woke up next to some hot chick."

Sam chuckled on the other end, _"Who Carmen?"_

"…who?" Sam sighed and said on the other line gently,

_"Dean you're drunk. You're drunk dialing me."_

"I am not drunk." Dean growled, "Quit screwing around."

_"Look, it's late just get some sleep. And I'll see you and Mel tomorrow okay?"_

"Wait Sam! Sam!" Dean hissed but his brother hung up on him. Then he remembered…Melody. Oh god where the hell was his sister. He ran a nervous hand through his hair and dug through his other emails and texts. There was no text but there was an email. It was a mass email that was sent to both him and Sam.

It read: _Hey brothers! Well I just finished up my tour of Europe and Japan. Can you believe it? I'm still pretty shocked myself but hey…dreams do come true right? Anyways I'm flying back as we speak. Jim is here next to me, sleeping like a rock as usual. I'll be arriving by the time you get this, hopefully not too late. Oh and did I say how much I miss you two! I hope you got a copy of my new album; I had Rachel send you both one in the mail. Dean, Sammy there is a special song for you guys on there. If anything just listen to that one, the rest are about random things and Jim which I'm sure you'd rather not hear about. Alright, sleep is winning right now. I'll see you all very soon! Love you guys so much!_

What the hell. Dean closed the email and didn't even think before he opened up the message again and dialed the number attached to it. The line rang twice before it was picked up, _"Hello…?"_

"Melody? Mels is that you?"

His sister sighed on the other end, _"Yes Dean it's me. What's up? We just got to the hotel so make it quick cause I'm beat."_

Dean paced the room, "Mels tell me you know what's going on. Tell me you know about the jinn."

Melody laughed, _"Oh lord. Gin? You're drunk again aren't you? Did you already call Sam or is he next?"_

"Yes…no I'm not drunk. Melody what the hell is going on?"

_"Nothing brother-bear. You're just drunk and acting stupid—as per usual." _She paused, talked to someone else on the other end. Dean heard a distinct, deep male voice say something to her and she laughed at it. But it was a…girlish laugh. Like a school-girl giggle. What the hell. Melody seemed to remember her brother and spoke again into the phone, _"Oh did you get my album? Rachel said you guys should have gotten it. And I hope you like the song I wrote for you two."_

Dean looked around the living room and threw out his arm, "Mels I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Melody sighed and said very slowly, like she was saying it to a child, _"Dean…my album. It went platinum not too long ago? Remember?"_ Again Dean sighed defeated and paced the living room. Then he saw it. There on the corner of the coffee table was a white CD case on top of a copy of Rolling Stones magazine. The magazine cover had a picture of his baby sister. She was wearing a sparkling, silver…strapless top. Her gold and yellow hair was puffed up and her exposed back faced the camera. She was brooding into the camera like a professional model. Glittering pink lips matched the silver top and her eyes were covered in smoky shadows. The words, "Melody Jean talks about family, music and love" caught his attention.

Dean picked up the CD. On that cover she was smiling at the camera and wearing a sparkling black tank top. Her hair was in soft waves, blowing out in all directions and she was smiling into the camera. Thick, smoky shadows covered her eyes as well in this photo. "Mels…you look…good."

_"Well thank you Dean. Now I know you're probably about to pass out so just turn off your phone, go cuddle with Carmen and I'll see you tomorrow okay?"_

"No, no, no. Wait Mels—" but the line already went dead. Dean sighed, defeated and looked down at the CD in his hands. He popped it open and inside on the little booklet was a small note written in black ink. He could tell it was his sister's neat cursive. The note told him to listen to track seven, saying that she wrote it for him and Sam and hoped that they understood the lyrics.

Dean decided to, why the hell not? He walked up to the stereo system, plugged in a pair of large headphones and put in the CD. He flipped over to track seven. Soft piano started playing and he heard a sweet, smooth voice. He could tell it was Melody but…he never knew she could sing like this. She was…well incredible.

The first of the lines of lyrics made Dean fight back his watering eyes. As the song went on he opened up the album booklet and read the lyrics. The song was titled, "In Case" and he knew what she meant. She was saying that she would keep all of their old things, all of their old pictures and old memories and old clothes with her…just in case he ever wanted or needed to go to her. She was always going to be there for him.

As the song faded and another more upbeat tune came on Dean stopped the music. He rubbed his sore eyes. This was turning into a "what the hell" kind of night. Or it already was. He glanced at the magazine with his sister's face smoldering out of the page at him. She had a slightly playful grin on her face, like she knew something nobody else did. Dean flipped through the magazine until he found the page with his sister's interview. He only gave the words a passing glance until he stopped on one particular word, "husband". WHAT. THE. HELL.

That certainly got his attention. He started reading where the word had appeared. The question was, "How did you meet you husband?"

And his sister gave this long story about a library and literally knocking heads with the guy…James. No last name though, they failed to mention that in the interview. And then Melody talked about how he proposed and their wedding and how the whole family showed up…blah, blah, blah. Dean had read enough…apparently she was planning on seeing him in the near future. He set down the magazine and walked around the living room again.

On the table that he assumed was in the dining room just off the living room was a pile of envelopes. Dean picked them up and read through the address's. They were all marked for Lawrence, Kansas.

"What the hell…" Dean mumbled flipping through the papers.

"Honey?" he looked over his shoulder to see the hot chick from the bed standing with just a blue robe on. What was her name? Carmen. Carmen took a few steps towards him, "What are you doing up?"

"Hey," Dean put on his best smile and set down the envelopes, "Carmen…Carmen, uh I just uh—"

Carmen sighed and put her hands on his chest, "Oh, you can't sleep huh?"

Dean chuckled, "Yeah."

"Well, why don't you come back to bed," she wrapped her hands around his neck and grinned up at him, "and let's see if I can do anything to help."

He forced a smile at her, "Sure. Yeah, in a minute—you go ahead."

"Okay, don't stay up too long." Carmen smiled at him and then surprised him when she leaned up on her toes and kissed him eagerly. Dean-never one to deny a good kiss-let her and as she pulled back forced another smile. Carmen grinned and walked away and Dean could only let out a sharp breath. What the hell…

Dean walked around the living room again. He saw pictures of him and Carmen. One on the beach, one in some wooded area. There was a picture of him and Melody in what looked like a recording studio. She had headphones on and was grinning widely at the camera. No pictures of Sam though…and then he saw it. The picture that literally made his heart fall completely into his stomach. The picture frame fell out of his hands; glass shattering across the floor but Dean didn't pay attention. He found his familiar leather jacket, Impala keys (thank god that was still here) and stormed out of the house.

He drove faster than he ever had. But he didn't have to drive too far. Only about ten minutes or so and then he found it. Their old house. He walked up to the house as slowly as he could manage. But he let his nerves get the better of him and started pounding on the front door and pressing the door bell rapidly. The porch light came on and the door opened and he froze.

"Dean," the blonde woman in her soft pink robe and slippers stared up at him with concern. She was so pretty…golden blonde hair falling over her shoulders in soft waves. Big blue eyes…just like he remembered.

"Mom?" he said softly, voice shaking. His mother reached out, worried and gently touched his arm,

"What are you doing here?" Dean flinched away from her touch, not really believing what he was seeing. Mary Winchester stared up at him with wide eyes, "Are you alright?"

Dean swallowed the lump in his throat, "I don't know."

"Well come inside," Mary said gently and he slowly stepped through the door. As his mother closed the door she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her robe and walked past him into her living room, "Carmen just called and said you just took off all of a sudden." Dean could hardly move and forgot the name for a second,

"Carmen?" then shook himself-duh the hot girl. Dean nodded quickly, "Right—let me ask you a question." Mary stood in the middle of her living room and crossed her arms over her stomach—the gesture reminded him of his sister. Dean swallowed, "When I was a kid, what did you always tell me when you put me to bed?"

Mary sighed, "Dean I don't understand—"

"Just answer the question." Dean nearly begged her. Mary stopped, gave him a pausing look then relented and said,

"I told you angels were watching over you." And there it was. The exact phrase he had been praying she would say. Dean let out a breath he had been holding and felt a smile come over his features,

"I don't believe it." He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around his mother, holding her to him tightly. Mary held him back and rubbed his shoulders,

"Honey, you're scaring me." Dean pulled away from her making sure to keep within arm's reach and Mary continued, "Now just tell me what's going on."

Dean ignored her concern and asked, "You don't think that wishes can—can really—"

He stopped as he felt the sob slowly bubbling up and out of his throat. Mary watched him closely, "What?"

"Forget it." Dean smiled and hugged his mother again, she smelled like fresh roses. Just like he remembered. Shaking his head he held her tighter, "Forget it, I'm just—I'm happy to see you. That's all." He swallowed and pinched his eyes shut for a moment to hold back the tears. Dean pulled away and looked at her, "You're beautiful. Melody does look a lot like you."

Mary smiled, "What?" Dean ignored her and walked around glancing at the baby blue and pink flowered wallpaper. He glanced at the book shelves and various photos. Rubbing his face he asked,

"Hey when I was young, was there ever a fire here?"

"No…never." Mary answered crossing her arms again and watching him closely.

"I thought there was." He looked at the shelves and stopped moving his eyes when he saw a picture of the whole family. They looked like a regular old American family. All smiling kids and happy parents…just like he always wished for. Dean couldn't help but smile, "I guess I was wrong."

He glanced over the pictures. Him in baseball gear sitting on a couch. Sam wearing a mathletes shirt and holding up a blue ribbon. Melody sitting on the floor in front of a Christmas tree holding a soft pink guitar, smiling widely at the camera. Dean standing behind a girl, dressed to the nines obviously for prom. Sam in graduation gear, Melody in graduation gear and even…himself.

Dean smiled trying to think of all those moments in their lives. All those happy, innocent times. He glanced over and picked up a large picture. It was of dad, in baseball gear of his own. "Dad's on a softball team." He looked back to find his mother staring at him confused. Dean stuttered, "Dad's softball team—that's—that's funny to me."

"He loved that stupid team." Mary said solemnly. Dean did not miss her tone and glanced up at her from the picture,

"Dad's dead?" again Mary gave him a confused look and Dean questioned, "And the thing that killed him was a…"

"A stroke." Mary answered, "He died in his sleep. You know that."

Dean swallowed another lump and looked at the picture again, "That's great."

"Excuse me?" Mary sounded offended and Dean looked back at her trying to cover what he had said,

"Th-that's great…that he went peacefully. I mean it—it sure beats the alternative."

Dean returned the picture to its place and heard his mother sigh, "You've been drinking."

"No I haven't mom." He slowly shook his head and stared at her. He just…couldn't believe she was standing right there.

"I'm just gonna call Carmen and have her come pick you up, okay?" she reached for the phone but Dean put a hand over hers,

"No, no…don't do that—don't do that," he stood straight and locked eyes with her, "I want to stay here."

Mary scrunched her brow, "Why?"

"Because I-I miss the place." He grinned, "It's okay. You go to…bed, okay?" Dean gently patted her shoulder and moved around to sit on the couch. It was just as soft as he pictured. Mary walked up to him and touched his cheek,

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I think so." Mary seemed to accept that and smiled giving him a quiet "okay" she bent down and kissed him on the forehead gently. She shuffled around the corner and peeked around the edge,

"Get some rest. I love you."

She smiled at him warmly and Dean could only return it with a half-smile, "Me too." He stayed up a bit longer looking at all the family pictures one last time and eventually fell asleep on the couch.

* * *

_Did anyone else tear up at the reunion of momma Winchester and Deanie? Cause I certainly did! ALSO! Melody's special song is actually based/taken from Demi Lavato's song "In Case". It's a good song and if I could ever picture a voice for Mels it would be Demi Lavato's. Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	18. Out of the Fire

**Oh my goodness this chapter got long! But I hope it came out like I wanted. Dean is just too sweet and I love his character so much, almost all the time I just want to give him a big bear hug. I mostly wrote this chapter to explore Dean's dream/wish and also to reveal some deeper things about Melody. Hope you like it :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

Dean popped open his eyes. Was it…but he stopped. He was still in his mother's house. Soft blue and pink wallpaper, family picture everywhere. The sun had come up, birds chirped happily outside. Dean sat up and pulled out his phone. He dialed his brother only getting a voicemail. Then he dialed his sister…again getting a voicemail. No…no this was too easy. This was too creepily what he always wished for.

Before long, he was at the nearest university sitting in an anthropology and mythology professor's office. He got the man to tell him everything about jinns. Of course the professor had told him everything he already knew. But…why would the jinn do it? Why would a jinn grant a wish that someone had never even said out loud? They weren't evil…were they? No they couldn't be.

He was in the parking lot now and popped open the trunk of his Impala. Chuckling he looked at its contents. Old paper and platic cups, a couple of nude magazines. Dean leaned against the trunk, "Well who'd have thought baby. We're civilians."

Dean snapped the trunk shut and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He started to believe he had just dreamed up that whole other life. The whole, hunting monsters while always on the road and the jinn? Yeah maybe he was just drinking real gin the night before and it was messing with his head. Dean looked around feeling eyes on him and froze. Standing just at the edge of the university courtyard was a girl. Pale skin, light brown hair and in a white dress. She was just staring at him…watching him.

He felt drawn to her. Slowly, Dean walked the short distance across the parking lot closing the distance between them making sure to keep his eyes on the girl no matter wha—Dean jumped back and held out a hand. A red van had nearly run him over, blaring it's horn at him. He watched the van for a second then looked back and saw that…the girl was gone. Huh…

* * *

Sighing and sipping at his cold beer, Dean plopped down on the steps leading up to his mother's home. He had spent an entire day mowing. Mowing! It was absolutely perfect. Mom made him the best freaking sandwich ever and he got to mow the lawn and now…beer. What could be more perfect?

He glanced up. A blue car was pulling to a slow stop in front of the house. Dean felt his jaw slacken, "I don't believe it."

Sam got out of the driver side and out of the passenger…Jessica! Pretty yellow haired Jess stepped out of the car looking just like she did when Dean had met her. He nearly jogged down the walkway toward her throwing his arms around the girl and squeezing her tightly, "Jessica."

Jess grunted and patted him gently on the back, "Ugh…good to see you too Dean." He laughed and only hugged her tighter getting a soft gasp from the girl, "Can't breathe."

Dean chuckled and released his hold on her. Looking over he saw his brother and let out a breath, "Sammy."

"Hey," his younger brother greeted.

"Look at you," Dean patted his shoulder, "you're with Jessica. I don't believe it." Sam seemed a bit confused and forced a smile giving a small nod and a "yeah". Dean felt his smile widen as he glanced between the couple, "Where'd you guys come from?"

Sam's brow scrunched up, "We just flew in from California—"

"California!" Dean laughed pointing at his brother's chest, "Standford huh? Law school I bet."

The youngest brother only gave him a small chuckle then pointed down at the beer in Dean's hand, "I see you started off mom's birthday with a bang as usual."

"Wait." Dean paused, "Mom's birthday—that's today?"

Sam gave him a 'duh' look and said, "Yeah. Yeah Dean that's today. That's why we're here. Melody shortened her tour just to be here too…don't tell me you forgot."

Dean could only chuckle lightly…yeah…

* * *

Pulling on his collar he felt the girl—Carmen—brush his shoulders. "I feel ridiculous." Dean grumbled. And only got a laugh from Carmen,

"Come on it's only dinner. When we get back home…" she leaned in a whispered in his ear. Dean coughed and swallowed eliciting a strange look from his brother. They had driven to this fancy-pancy restaurant saying that Melody had made reservations for everyone. Speaking of…where was she?

"Hey when's Mels getting here?" Dean asked looking around the place. And as if in answer he saw her come around the corner being led by a hostess. She looked…absolutely stunning. She was wearing a black dress that stopped a few inches above her knees. It had long sleeves and a deep V neck that dipped a bit too low for his liking—at least on his baby sister. Her hair was pulled up into an intricate bun, stray pieces falling all around her neck and had on a pair of hot pink ballet flats.

Huge diamond studs could be seen in her ears even from across the room. Dark, smoky eye make-up and pale pink lipstick stuck out to Dean. He had seen his sister wear make-up before sure…but never this much. One hand held a tiny hot pink clutch purse and the other hand…held the hand of what Dean assumed was her "husband". The man was not what he expected. He was roughly an inch taller than himself, broad shouldered and defined jaw. The man had slicked back dirty blonde hair and large, sky blue eyes.

At this point everyone seemed to notice Melody and all at once the whole table stood to greet her and her partner. Mary was the first. She beamed at her daughter, "Melody," and pulled her in for a tight hug. Melody returned the gesture smiling widely and said,

"Mama happy birthday." She pulled back kissed Mary on the cheek then turned to greet Sam and Jessica. Dean however was watching this "husband" of hers. He was very gentle with Mary, hugging her and having light conversation with her before turning to Sam and Jess.

After Melody greeted the youngest couple she moved to Carmen and Dean. "Carmen oh my god it feels like forever." Melody fake cried and wrapped her arms around Carmen's neck and the girl could only laugh,

"You talked to me not three hours ago."

"Yeah, like I said…forever." Melody playfully rolled her eyes then finally turned to Dean,

"No hug for your famous baby sister?"

Dean shook himself and pulled her toward him giving her one of his signature bear hugs. "You look beautiful Mels."

Melody pulled back and smiled wide at him, "Thanks brother-bear." Dean smiled at her, glad that that detail was still the same and then felt his jaw drop. On her left hand was the biggest diamond he had ever friggin seen. It was a large square cut surrounded by smaller diamonds and sat on the thinnest rose gold band. The diamond was a soft champagne color and glittered up at him.

"Jesus Mels…your ring is…huge."

His sister giggled, "Yeah I know. Jimmy bought it for me…remember?"

Dean looked back at her, "Jimmy who?"

Melody rolled her eyes, "Don't play dumb. My husband, James Du Pont gave me this ring when we got married. Remember?"

"Du Pont…?" Dean scrunched up his brow; he had heard that name before. Then it hit him. The Du Pont family was one of the oldest and wealthiest families in America. So, Melody had married a rich man. Before he could ask Melody anything further she had stepped aside and allowed her husband to stand in front of him. Jimmy held out a hand and smiled,

"Good to see you again Dean." His voice was deep, rough and…hang on. How old was this guy?

Dean slowly took his hand and asked suspiciously, "How old are you?"

Melody scoffed, "Dean. Jimmy is your age…?"

After an awkward silence Dean shook himself, "Uh…right nice to see you too…Jim." He patted the man on the shoulder getting a weird, confused look from him but thankfully the man didn't say anything. As they all sat back down Dean watched Jimmy. He was wearing a black button up shirt and deep blue silk tie with black slacks. The man looked pretty built, though not a hulking kind of build. Fit…that's the word Dean could see describing the guy…fit.

Soon everyone had fallen into polite conversation. Mary asked about Melody's tour but Melody would say that it wasn't that important and try to ask Sam about his law school progress then Jess would try and ask Jimmy about him and Melody. Dean had to smile. Although he didn't quite know the guy…he was slowly beginning to see why Melody would choose him.

Soon everyone had gotten their meals except for Dean but he was more concerned with other matters. Dean leaned over toward his baby sister and asked, "How long have you and…Jim been married again?"

Melody seemed to fight an eye roll, "Three years Dean. You were the best man…?"

"What?" Dean got Jim's attention, "Dude…I was your best man? How long have I known you? How do I know you?"

Jimmy sipped his wine and gave Dean a confused stare, "We met at one of Melody's first concerts. You remember Dean, it was a private performance and she only invited her family and a few other big names from California."

Dean scrunched up his brow, "We did?" when he got a seriously worried face from Jim and a completely irritated scowl from his sister he nodded, "Right…right I uh…I introduced you guys."

"I guess you could say that." Melody sipped her wine while Jimmy gave him another confused stare,

"Dean…you tried to keep me away from her."

"Key word, 'tried'." His sister added and Jim grinned at her,

"We met at the after party and then I followed her around for days. Finally I got her alone in this book store, nearly ruined it though when I ran my head into hers though," he laughed nervously but Melody only grinned and took his hand.

"He was lucky he was really sweet about it."

"Loved her the moment we knocked heads in that store." Jimmy gave Melody's hand a small squeeze eliciting a broad smile from the girl.

Dean watched them a moment, "So…kids or…"

Melody laughed, "You are really interested in my personal life so suddenly. Um…" she chewed her lip, "no…no kids just yet."

_Yet?_ Dean leaned over to question her more but pulled back when the waiter arrived with his dinner. It was a large slab of beef with…green stuff sticking out in all directions. "Oh…wow that…looks great." Dean sighed trying to figure out where exactly to start eating.

The whole table laughed and Sam held up his wine glass, "Alright…to mom." Everyone joined him and they all chimed, "Happy birthday."

Dean grinned and watched his brother and Jessica share a chaste kiss. They looked happy. Melody whispered something to Jimmy and he glanced at her, kissing her jaw line lovingly. They looked happy too.

"I was worried about you last night." Dean jumped when he heard Carmen's voice.

"Oh I'm good," he smiled at her, "I'm really good."

Carmen nodded, "Okay." Then she leaned her head closer to his, "What do you say later we get you a cheeseburger?"

"Oh god yes," Dean sighed looking down at his plate of…mystery meat. "How did I end up with such a cool chick?"

"I just got low standards," Carmen grinned only getting a small chuckle out of Dean who leaned in and kissed her. It was perfect.

"Alright," Sam said getting the tables attention. He glanced at his sister, "Do you want to go first or should I?"

Melody chewed her lip, "You first Sam…"

He grinned at her, they both knew something. Sam took his girlfriend's hand, "Uh…Jess and I actually have another surprise for mom's birthday." He looked at Jessica, "You want to tell them?"

"They're your family." Jess smiled and shared a wink with Melody. Mary looked between the girls suspiciously,

"Alright…what? Tell me what?" Sam beamed and held up Jessica's hand. On it was a small diamond ring. Mary put her hands over her mouth, "Oh my god!" Sam, Jessica and Mary all stood up giving each other hugs and Mary telling them how happy she was for them.

Once they had calmed down, Sam looked over at Melody. "Okay sis…it's your turn now."

Mary's eyes widened, "Oh my god Melody…what?"

Dean watched his sister beam. She took her husband's hand and looked at him, "Do you want to or should I?"

Jimmy copied what Jessica had said earlier and smiled at her, "They're your family."

Melody sighed seeming nervous and lightly put her free hand over her stomach, "Um…I'm…pregnant."

"What?!" Mary nearly screamed and practically jumped out of her seat followed by Jimmy and Melody. Mother and daughter embraced, both close to tears of joy. Mary then turned to Jimmy and gave him a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek before hugging him tightly as well.

Dean couldn't believe it. One couple getting married, the other expecting. Carmen stood up and walked around with Jessica to join Melody and Jimmy. The girls giggled excitedly with each other. Melody looked over and saw her big brother grinning widely at nothing in particular.

"Another bear hug for a future momma-bear maybe?" Melody asked him, hands on her hips playfully. Dean stood quickly and gripped his sister tightly,

"Congrats Mels…seriously I am," he pulled back and stared down at her, "I am so happy for you."

"Thanks. Now go congratulate Sam, I think mom wants a little more time with me." Dean watched her walk up to her husband. Almost instinctually, the man put his arm across her back holding her to him. Mary walked up to her daughter and gently placed a hand on the girls stomach,

"Welcome to the family little one."

Dean watched the group for a moment longer then turned to his youngest brother. Melody seemed to want to be a part of the conversation and stole herself away to be with her brothers. Coming up behind him, Melody gently touched Sam's arm while Dean shook his brother's hand firmly, "Congratulations Sammy."

"Thanks." Sam grinned at him. Dean looked between his siblings,

"I'm really glad you two are happy." Both Melody and Sam gave him slightly confused stares but ignored the comment. Dean went to hug his sister again but stopped. Standing not a few feet away was…that girl from earlier. She looked dirtier, more disheveled then before. Dean determined to get a good look at her pushed past his siblings and walked up to the girl. He had to dodge a few people but by the time he got to the girl…she was gone.

He looked back at his family. They were all giving him looks of concern, confusion and…fear.

* * *

Mary unlocked her front door and held it open for the whole family to enter. Carmen and Jessica came first followed by Melody, Jimmy and then Sam and Dean. Carmen and Jess fell into quiet giggles about the wedding while Mary went on and on to Melody and Jimmy about baby names.

Sam walked ahead of the others with Dean and the youngest asked, "So…what was all that back at the restaurant?"

Dean shook his head, "Oh, I thought I saw someone. I'm sure it's nothing."

"Well," Mary said stopping everyone, "I had a lovely birthday. Thank you." Everyone said their goodnights; Melody even planted a quick kiss to her mother's cheek before Mary disappeared up the stairs.

"Yeah, well I'm beat." Sam sighed and looked at Jess, "Ready to turn in?"

Jessica nodded and Melody and her husband seemed to be preparing to leave as well. As they all turned to leave Dean held out a hand, "Wait, wait come on. It's not even nine yet. Let's uh…go have a drink or something—well Mels you can have water or soda but uh…yeah."

"That sounds great Dean but maybe another time?" Melody suggested and Dean threw out his arms chuckling,

"Come on look at us huh? Sam—you and I have beautiful women on our arms. Mels you've got a good looking man. Sammy's engaged, Mels your ego is prego. Let's go celebrate."

Sam and Melody exchanged a look then the youngest looked at the girls, "Could you uh excuse us? We want to talk to our brother for a sec."

Melody glanced at Jimmy giving a quick kiss on the cheek, "It'll only take a minute." All three nodded walking off to the opposite end of the house. Sam led Dean away with a quiet, "Come here." Melody gave Dean a look and waited for him to follow,

"What?" Dean asked her but followed his brother anyways.

They came to a stop a little deeper in the living room. Sam turned around to face Dean while Melody stood between them. The youngest put his hands in his pockets and stared at Dean, "What's gotten into you?"

"What do you mean?"

Sam seemed to think it was obvious and said, "I mean this whole warm, fuzzy, ecstasy-trip thing."

"You sure you aren't drunk?" Melody asked him but Dean only grinned,

"I'm just happy for you Sammy," he gave his younger brother a solid pat on the shoulder then gently touched Melody's arm, "and for you Mels. I mean…this is all great."

"Yeah that's another thing." Melody said giving Sam a questioning stare and he seemed to agree,

"Yeah—since when do you call us 'Sammy' and 'Mels'? Dean, come on we don't talk outside of holidays."

Dean was hurt and paused glancing at both his siblings, "We don't?"

Melody shrugged, "I email and text a few times but…yeah. Kinda busy you know—popstar and everything." Dean scoffed at her,

"Well…we should all talk more I mean. You're my brother and sister."

Sam squinted at him and repeated, " 'You're my brother?' "

This seemed to annoy Melody and she just rolled her eyes, "Here we go…"

Ignoring her, the youngest said to Dean, "You know that's what you said when you snaked my ATM card. Or when you bailed on my graduation, or…when you hooked up with Rachel Nave."

Melody again rolled her eyes, "Sam that was years ago. Good lord it was high school."

Sam gave her an 'are you serious' look and said, "Oh really? What about when he was saying "you're my sister" when he pulled you out of the SATs for some stupid joy ride? Or when he encouraged you to drop out of college and just…go on a road trip across the country? Or when he bailed on your graduation too?"

Dean chewed his lip, "Huh…yeah that does kind of sound like me. Well look man; I'm sorry about all of that." Dean moved to give his brother a hug but Sam stepped back,

"No look…it's alright. I just—you know, I'm not asking you to change. I guess neither of us…really has anything in common, you know?"

"Oh my god here we go again with the sappy Sam story," Melody seemed to be taking on a completely different persona. Sam looked like he was used to it and glared at her,

"Why cause you have it so easy? Cause you were always the 'princess'?"

"Yeah I was." Melody smiled at him mockingly, "I'm the only truly successful one out of this little band of siblings. I don't see you selling over a million copies of an album each year mister law school. You'd rather be a scummy lawyer who lies for a living. Well it suits you."

"What and I'm not the liar? You're the one who acts all 'I love my family' for the cameras and for mom only. As soon as they're gone you turn into a total…" he trailed off and Melody crossed her arms challenging him,

"Total what? Huh?"

"An entitled, spoiled brat who only marries for money."

Melody gave him a contemptuous grin and scoffed, "I guess we can agree on one thing. Neither of us has anything in common."

Sam made to leave with Melody close behind but Dean held out a hand to stop them both, "Whoa, whoa—yes we do." When they were both facing him he repeated, "Yes we do."

"What?" Sam probed still irritated from his sister's attitude.

"Hunting."

Melody laughed while Sam's eyebrows shot up, "Hunting? We've never been hunting in our entire lives."

Dean swallowed…was that? And when he stared at his siblings he knew. Yes it was true. "Yeah well," he said trying to give them a small smile, "then we should all go sometime. I think you guys'd be great at it."

His sister scoffed and walked away, "Whatever."

Before he walked away Sam turned to his brother and gave him a small, not really there smile and said softly, "Get some rest."

* * *

"All of them…" Dean sighed digging his hands even deeper into his pockets. He had been thinking and trying to deal with this new life all day. He just couldn't wrap his head around it all. He and his siblings never really talked, Sam didn't really like him that much and his sister had turned into an entitled rich girl. But he could fix it. Dean knew that he could show his siblings that they had things in common.

But he had seen the ghost girl again and then the news report he had seen. It was about the anniversary of a tragic plane crash in Indiana. But Dean remembered stopping it, he remembered saving those people. He had done more research and found that all of the things he and his siblings had prevented, all of the people they had saved where all dead. Dean swallowed and looked down at his father's gravestone before continuing,

"Everyone that you saved, everyone Sammy, Mels and I saved…they're all dead. And there's this woman that's haunting me. I don't know why. I don't know what the connection is—not yet, anyway. It's like my old life is coming after me or something, like it doesn't want me to be happy. Of course I know what you'd say. Well, not the you that played softball, but you'd say "Go hunt the jinn. It put you here. It can put you back. Your happiness or all those people's lives—no contest." Right?"

Dean took in a breath, "But why? Why is it my job to save these people? Why do I have to be some kind of hero? What about us, huh?" he felt himself getting more and more frustrated as his voice began to rise but did not hold back, "What, mom's not supposed to live her life? Sammy's not supposed to get married? Melody isn't allowed to have dreams and her own family? Why do we have to sacrifice everything dad? It's…"

He sniffled and felt his eyes burn as a few stray tears fell down his cheeks, "Yeah." Dean wiped his face down, gave his father's grave one last looks then turned and slowly walked away.

* * *

"I cannot believe you dragged me over here." Melody huffed as she got out of the Impala and slammed the door, "Do you realize that I have a press conference in New York tomorrow? And I have an appearance on Good Morning America? My plane leaves at five in the morning, whatever it is that you need me to do had better be quick."

Dean practically ignored her as they walked up to their mother's house. He had gotten nothing but nagging and complaining from her during the entire car ride. Dean rolled his eyes, "Just keep quiet and…try not to make too much noise in those shoes."

He eyed her black platform heels and then took in the rest of her outfit. Tight black pants, glittering gold tank top and black cropped jacket. The jacket had shoulder pads…_shoulder pads!_ Granted they were small but still… And the rest of her accessories? Gigantic diamond studs, huge gold watch and her monstrous wedding ring. Her hair was down in soft gold waves, the smell of hairspray was almost unbearable and her make-up looked like it had the previous night. Dark eyes, and almost too pale pink lips. Just gaudy…everything about the outfit just screamed at him the word "gaudy".

"Seriously what are you wearing?" Dean grumbled turning to the door and pulling out his lockpick.

Melody rolled her eyes, "I told you when you dragged me out of the hotel. James and I literally just got back from Dallas. We left last night on his jet. I had a press conference in Dallas idiot—didn't you watch it?"

"No I didn't I had more important things to do." He began to pick the lock but Melody only crossed her arms,

"At least Sam watched it. And he doesn't even care about my success although sometimes I think that you—"

Dean turned and covered her mouth with his hand, "Just…shut up please. All I need you to do is keep watch and then I'll take you back to the hotel alright? And you'll never be bothered by me again."

He uncovered her mouth and returned to unlocking the door and Melody's eyes widened, "What are you doing anyways? Why do I have to keep watch? Are you breaking into mom's house?"

Slowly Dean opened the door and hissed back at her, "Shut up Melody."

She clenched her jaw and huffed speaking to him in a quieter tone, "Dean I swear if you get me in trouble…"

Dean only rolled his eyes and walked through the entryway closing the door behind his sister quietly. He pulled her by the arm into the living room and had her stand by the far wall while he bent down by the china set. Melody's eyes widened and she hissed at him, "You're stealing from our mother? What the hell is—"

"Ugh!" Melody jumped back and Dean easily avoided the bat swinging towards his head. Standing up, Dean grabbed the bat and quickly threw it from his attacker's hands, flipped the man over and pinned him down.

Sam gasped and stared up at a grinning Dean, "That was so easy I'm embarrassed for you." He glanced up at his sister, "Weren't you supposed to keep an eye out for me?"

"Dean?" Sam struggled against his brother's hold then heard their sister hiss behind him,

"Jesus Christ! What the hell is your problem? Why in god's name did I let you drag me over here?"

Dean pulled his brother up from the ground while Sam glanced between his siblings, "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"I was looking for a beer." Dean smiled patting Sam's shoulder.

Melody pursed her lips and crossed her arms in frustration while Sam glanced over Dean's shoulder, "In the china cabinet?" he turned back and flicked on the room light revealing their mother's collection of silver opened up on the floor.

"That's mom's silver." Sam said pointing at the open boxes.

"Oh my god I can't believe you dragged me into this." Melody said covering her face with her hands while Sam ignored her and asked Dean,

"You broke into the house to steal mom's silver?"

Dean held out his hands, "It's not what it looks like okay? I didn't have a choice."

Sam reached out and pulled his sister over to his side, "So you bring Melody into it? Why are you stealing the silver Dean? What's so damn important that you got to steal from your own mother?"

"You want the truth?" Dean asked looking between his brother and sister who both nodded.

"Yeah."

"Yes _please_." Melody and Sam answered together although his sister sounded a lot angrier than his brother.

Dean nodded and grinned in a slightly guilty way, "I owe somebody money."

Melody threw back her head and let out a sigh of frustration while Sam asked, "Who?"

"A bookie," Dean answered, "I lost big on a game. I got to bring him the cash tonight."

"Typical," Melody rolled her eyes, "at least you learned from the last time and didn't ask _me_ for the money."

Sam shook his head in disappointment, "I can't believe we're even related."

Dean stared at his siblings for a moment then said gently, "Guys I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we don't get along. And I wish to hell I could stay and fix it. But I got to do this. People's lives depend on it."

They watched him kneel down and pick up a silver butter knife. Now they had seriously concerned faces, Melody had completely forgotten about being furious with him, "Dean?"

"What are you talking about?" Sam's voice shook slightly with worry. Dean turned back to them and shook his head,

"Nothing. Forget it. Just uh…" he looked at his sister, "Mels I'm sorry I dragged you into this, I'm sure Sammy here can give you a ride back to the hotel. I just—I just wanted to see you again before I left." Melody crossed her arms over her stomach but didn't say anything and Dean continued, "Hey, you two tell mom I love her for me."

He walked away from them intending to not look back but stopped when he heard his brother call out to him. Dean turned to them, saw the seriously worried looks on their faces but ignored those and grinned, "I'll see you two later." He left the house, giving the place one last glance. He got in his car and turned on the engine, sitting for a minute to think through his plan again.

Before he could reach out for the wheel to pull away he heard the passenger door open and the back door open as well. Sam and Melody both sat down in the car and Dean looked between them, "Get out of the car."

Sam crossed his arms over his chest, "We're going with you."

"You'll just slow me down." Dean insisted but Melody leaned forward between him and Sam,

"Tough." She deadpanned but Dean would not hear it,

"This is dangerous and you guys could get hurt."

Sam nodded, "Yeah, and so could you."

"Guys please—"

"Look," Sam stopped him, "whatever stupid thing you're about to do, you're not doing it alone and that's that."

They both gave him solid, pointed looks but Dean shook his head, "I don't understand. Why are you guys doing this?"

Sam sighed and looked out the front window while Melody clenched her jaw, "Because despite everything you put me through tonight—_and_ Sam…you're still our brother."

Dean fought the smile that was coming across his face and looked at Sam, "Bitch."

"What are you calling me a bitch for?" Sam asked, confused and slightly offended.

"You're supposed to say "jerk" and then Melody says…"morons"…i-it's—"

"What?" Sam and Melody both questioned at the same time, baffled by his strange behavior.

"Never mind." Dean said putting the car in drive and pulling away from the house and his dream life.

* * *

Melody grumbled from the back seat, "You threw my phone…out the window."

Dean glanced at her in the mirror, she had her arms crossed over her chest and was pouting, "Oh come on princess. You can buy a new one right?"

"I had Eddie Van Halen's phone number on that thing. I'll probably never get that back thanks to you."

"You met him?" Dean asked pulling up to an old abandoned warehouse, the very same one he was in before the jinn had attacked him.

Melody rolled her eyes, "This whole memory loss thing is really getting annoying. Yes Dean, we played a show together. You asked for his autograph and everything."

He put the car in park and looked back at her, "Did I get it?"

"Yeah but you lost it—and you still have the freaking lambs blood…eugh." She gagged when Dean picked up the small container. Dean scoffed,

"Big baby." He looked over, Sam had fallen asleep. Grinning he picked up a flashlight and shined the light in his brother's eyes. Sam jerked awake, blinking at the light. Dean chuckled and felt an ounce of relief when he heard Melody snicker in the back. It almost reminded him of the other Sam and Mels for a second.

"Where are we?" Sam asked looking out the windows. Dean looked out the front window with him and sighed,

"Well we're not in Kansas anymore." He chuckled but got deadpan looks from his siblings and answered, "Illinois."

"And…you think something is in there?" Melody asked leaning forward to look at the old warehouse.

"I know it is."

* * *

Dean led the way, shining his flashlight in every direction. Sam and Melody followed behind him, his sister's heels clicking against the floor. He glanced back and she seemed thoroughly creeped out and reached for her youngest brother, gripping his arm tightly. Sam gave her a questioning look and she just scowled up at him but didn't let go.

Sam sighed, "See? There's nothing here." Dean ignored him and continued looking around. He followed the path he remembered taking before the jinn got the jump on him, going down a windowed hallway. Sam tried to get him to stop and tried saying gently, "Look, Carmen's got to be worried sick about you Dean. Come on, let's just go."

"Yes please let's go, this place is creeping me out." Melody agreed tightening her grip on Sam. Dean ignored them again but held out a hand shushing them and listening. High pitched whimpering could be heard echoing down the hall toward them. "Oh my god…" Melody's voice quivered and Sam just stared down the hall,

"What the hell is that?"

Dean looked back at them, "Stick behind me and keep your mouths shut." He led the way around the corner and shined his light on two corpses hanging up by their hands. Melody wrapped her arms around Sam's and buried her face into his shoulder, shaking and terrified. Instinctually, Sam put his free hand against the back of her head staring at the rotted bodies, scared as well.

There were needles and old bags of…something hooked up to the bodies. "What the hell?" Sam tried to get a closer look at the bodies and Melody seemed to face her fears, turning to look at the bodies as well.

Dean shone his light across the room and saw a more fresh looking body hanging by her hands in the same position as the corpses. The siblings all walked over to the girl slowly, her eyes were opened but she wasn't looking at anything. Dean froze, "It's her." It was the girl—the ghost he had been seeing this whole time.

Melody, concerned for the girl, slowly let go of Sam and walked up to get a closer look. She had a needle stuck into her neck, blood being drawn from it. "Dean, what the hell is going on?" she asked looking back at her brother for help.

"Shh." Dean grabbed her shoulder and began to pull her back. The shadow of the jinn was slowly coming around the corner. Quickly, he turned off his flashlight and then pulled his brother and sister behind a grated shelf with debris. Using the debris as cover they kneeled down and Dean gave them the signal to stay quiet by holding a finger over his lips. They watched the jinn slowly walk up to the girl who started moaning and whimpered, "Where's my dad?" the jinn reached for her and she tried to pull away, sobbing, "No…where's my dad?"

The jinn touched her cheek, "Sleep…" it whispered to her and blue flames came out of his fingers, gently snaking their way up the girls face, "sleep…"

Melody watched as the girl's head slowly fell forward and then gagged when she saw the jinn pull out a tube from the girl's blood bag and quickly drink from it. "Ugh…" Sam fought a gag as well but froze. The jinn had heard him. It jerked it's head back at them, eyes flashing bright blue flames.

Dean quickly pulled them away from their spot, stopping just underneath the stairs that lead up and out. He had a hand over his sister's mouth and she was gripping his arm tightly out of fear. The jinn luckily did not see them and slowly exited the room. As they all heard the door slam, both Sam and Melody let out shaking breaths. "This is real?" Sam gasped, breathing heavily, "You're not crazy?"

But Dean ignored the question and stared at the strung up girl, "She didn't know where she was. She thought she was with her father." He walked out from underneath the stairs with his siblings close behind. As he came up to the poor girl he started thinking out loud, "What if that's what the jinn does? It doesn't grant you a wish. It just makes you think it has."

Sam gripped his arm, "Look man, that thing could come back alright?"

"Yeah, let's get the hell out of here." Melody said reaching for his hand and giving it a firm squeeze. Dean ignored them and walked around until his eyes landed on a light. It was a simple light bulb hanging from the ceiling but he felt drawn to it. As he stared up at the light he blinked rapidly. Flashes of himself, hanging by the wrists from the ceiling, tubes connected to his neck drawing blood…they all shot across his vision like a terrible nightmare. But it wasn't a nightmare…

"Dean, please…" Sam nearly begged but again Dean ignored him. His breathing increased as he stared up at the light,

"What if I'm like her? What if I'm tied up in here someplace? What if all this is in my head?"

Melody walked towards him a few steps, "What are you talking about?"

Dean looked back at her then walked past her towards the girl, "Maybe it gives us some kind of supernatural acid and then just feeds on us slow."

Sam shook his head, "No, Dean, that doesn't make sense okay?"

He ignored him and stared at the girl's tied up wrists, "What if that's why she keeps appearing to me? She's not a spirit—it's like more and more I'm catching flashes of reality." He finally looked at his siblings, "You know like I'm in here somewhere. I'm catatonic and I'm taking all this stuff in, but I can't snap out of it."

Melody quickly nodded her head, "Okay look, yes…you're right, we were wrong."

Sam agreed with her hastily, "Yeah, you're not crazy but we need to get out of here fast." He started pulling Dean away and Melody put her hand on his shoulder. Dean shook them off and got stunned looks from them.

"I don't think you two are real." Sam and Melody shared a worried look and the youngest reached out to grab Dean's arms,

"Did you feel that?" he shook him, "You feel this? I'm real."

Melody walked up to Dean and gripped his face in her hands turning his head to look at her, "You see me right? You hear me? This is no acid trip. We are real and that thing is going to come down here and kill us for real."

Sam let out a shaking breath, "Now please—"

"There's one way to be sure." Dean reached in and pulled out the knife from his pocket. Sam and Melody both stared at it with wide, fearful eyes and both slowly backed up,

"Whoa, whoa…what are you doing?" Sam asked him.

"It's an old wive's tale." Dean explained holding up the knife, "If you're about to die in a dream, you'll wake up."

"What?" Melody's eyes began to water and Sam held out his hands giving them a quick shake,

"No, no, no. That's crazy alright?"

"Maybe."

Melody stood by Sam who tried to reach for his brother, "You're gonna kill yours—"

Dean held up his hands and the knife getting Sam to back up, "Or I'm gonna wake up. One or the other."

"Look, this isn't a dream alright?" Melody said gently, trying to keep herself and everyone else calm.

Sam nodded, "Yes, Dean we are here with you right now and you are about to kill yourself."

Dean swallowed the lump in his throat, "No I'm pretty sure…like ninety percent sure, but I'm sure enough." He flipped the knife around, preparing to thrust it into his chest.

"Wait!" Melody and Sam shouted at him. Dean froze as he felt someone walk up behind him. Looking back he saw his mom in her white nightgown, giving him a small, gentle smile. He looked back at his siblings and saw Carmen standing behind Sam, James behind Melody.

"Why'd you have to keep digging?" Sam asked him. Dean looked over and saw Jessica come out of the shadows hearing Melody ask,

"Why couldn't you have left well enough alone?"

Dean watched the group of people around him and looked back at Sam who said, "You were happy." Tears began to form in Dean's eyes but he tried to fight them. Then, his mother stood in front of him,

"Put the knife down, honey." Mary said gently. Dean swallowed and shook his head at her,

"You're not real. None of it is." He looked back at Carmen…his perfect girl—but she wasn't real.

Mary moved her head back and forth, "It doesn't matter. It's still better than anything you had."

"What?" Dean felt a pang of offense as Mary continued,

"It's everything you want." She smiled, "We're a family again. Let's go home."

"I'll die," Dean began saying through a quivering voice, "the jinn will drain the life out of me in a couple of days—"

"But in here with us," Mary argued, "it'll feel like years, like a lifetime." Dean paused and looked back at his brother and sister. They both gave him small smiles, telling him it would be okay. Mary took his chin in her hand making sure to get his full attention, "No more pain. No more fear. Just love and comfort and safety. Dean…stay with us. Get some rest."

Jessica spoke up from her spot, "You don't have to worry about Sam anymore. You get to watch him live a full life."

James was next, "And Melody will get the family you've always wanted her to have. She'll be protected…happy."

Mary grinned at him and then stepped back, allowing Carmen to take her place. She walked up to him and gently kissed him, pulling back she smiled, "We can have a future together, have our own family. I love you, Dean. Please."

Carmen moved aside. Sam and Melody joined hands and walked up to him. Sam was the first to speak, "Why is it our job to save everyone?"

"Haven't we done enough?" Melody asked him fighting back her own tears she continued, "We're begging you…"

Slowly Sam and Melody released their hold of each other. The youngest held out his hand, "Give me the knife." Dean stared at them all. Jessica, Carmen, James…his mom, Melody and Sam. They were all just like he had pictured. Just like he had always wanted. But…

He took a couple steps back, eyes welling up, "I'm sorry." Taking in a deep breath Dean held out the knife, then plunged the metal into his stomach.

"Dean!"

* * *

"Dean!" Sam cried staring up at his brother. He looked pale—deathly pale. Melody fought tears as she shook her brother,

"Dean! Oh god, come on." She growled in frustration as she quickly shook him reaching up she felt for a pulse. It was there, but so faint she could hardly feel it. And his skin felt so cold…he stared at nothing.

Sam shook his brother, "Wake up dammit." Dean moaned lightly, slowly coming out of his daze. He stared down at Sam and grinned,

"Aunti Em…there's no place like home."

Melody and Sam both let out sighs of relief. Dean grunted when he felt his sister reach up and grip his face as she fought tears, "Thank god you're okay."

"We thought we'd lost you for a second." Sam said reaching up and slowly pulling out the needle from Dean's neck.

"You almost did." Dean said wincing at the pain from the needle. Sam started to cut the ropes keeping him up and Melody held out her arms around Dean's middle preparing to catch him when he was cut loose. Dean swallowed, his mouth felt dry and—"Sam!" he cried out when he saw the jinn's flaming blue eyes come up behind his siblings.

Sam reacted quickly turning and slashing at the jinn with his knife, but the jinn moved quickly and avoided the knife deftly. Melody grunted and ran up behind the jinn as he pinned Sam to the wall, kicking the jinn away from her brother. Sam's knife clattered to the floor while the monster turned and roared at her in anger. Melody reached back and grabbed her brother as they both ran away up the stairs, trying to get to safety. They both fell over, Sam on top of Melody. Again the jinn roared and pulled on Sam gripping his throat and using his weight to keep Melody pinned against the stairs.

The jinn's hand burst and was covered in blue flames as he tried to touch Sam's face. Sam and Melody both pushed against the jinn's hand trying to force his hand away from Sam's face. Melody grunted and just as she started to "power up" they heard the distinct sound of metal cutting through flesh.

Dean stabbed the jinn right in the back, twisting the knife until the jinn's head fell forward. Dean let the body fall to the ground, limp and lifeless.

* * *

Melody sighed and leaned her head against Dean's shoulder as he flipped through a sport's magazine. He stopped on an ad for his favorite brand of beer, "El Sol". It had a picture of a pretty brunette gril in a bikini lying on a beach with a bottle of the beer next to her. Dean laughed at the picture…it was Carmen his dream girl.

"Okay," Sam said pressing his phone to his ear, "uh well, thank you so much for the update…bye." He hung up the phone and walked up to his siblings, "That was the hospital. The girl's been stabilized."

The same girl Dean had seen in his dream world was in the real world too. Luckily, they had gotten to her in time and were able to take her to the nearest hospital. Sam sat down on the bed next to his siblings, "Good chance she's gonna pull through."

"That's good." Dean said not really feeling his sister on his shoulder or really paying attention to his brother, just flipping through the rest of the magazine. He stopped on another page. It was an ad for men's sportswear and the model…looked exactly like James. Dean chewed his lip, of course.

"How about you?" Sam asked and Melody leaned up from his shoulder, gripping his arm she asked,

"You okay?"

Dean swallowed, "Yeah I'm alright." He paused flipped through a few more pages then glanced up at them, "You two should have seen it. Our lives. You two were the biggest wussies I'd ever seen."

His siblings chuckled lightly and Sam questioned him further, "So, we didn't get along then huh?"

"Pfft…no." Dean said shaking his head and Melody scrunched up her brow,

"Huh…I thought it was supposed to be this perfect fantasy—"

Dean closed the magazine, "It wasn't. it was just a wish." He tossed the magazine behind him and stared at the wall, "I wished for mom to live. Mom never died, we never went hunting, and the three of us just never uh…you know."

Sam nodded and looked at his shoes for a second before looking back at his brother, "Well I'm glad we do."

Melody grinned and wrapped her arm around Dean's tightly, "Me too."

"And I'm glad you dug yourself out…we both are." Sam said and Melody nodded in affirmation, resting her chin on Dean's shoulder again as Sam continued, "Most people wouldn't have had the strength. They would've just stayed."

"Yeah lucky me." Dean chuckled without any humor and looked down at his own shoes before standing up out of his sister's hold, "I gotta tell you though guys," he pointed at Sam, "You had Jess," then at Melody, "you had the perfect husband. Mom was gonna have grandkids…"

"Yeah but Dean," Sam said from his spot, "it wasn't real."

"I know," he nodded, "but I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay so bad. I mean, ever since dad…all I can think about is how much this job's cost us." Dean swallowed and watched his siblings, "We've lost so much. And we've sacrificed so much—"

Melody slowly stood from her seat, "But Dean, people are alive because of you."

Sam nodded in agreement, "It's worth it, Dean. It is. It's not fair and, you know it hurts like hell but it's worth it."

* * *

Dean stayed up past his siblings, letting them both sleep saying he had slept enough in the past few days. As they slept he watched them both. Sam was on his back, mouth slightly parted, snoring softly. Melody laid on her side, on hand thrown across her stomach, the other rest above her head. Her hair was thrown in all different directions, sticking out messily. She had on a pair of Sam's old pajama pants, they were too short for Sam but for Melody they were way too long and hung down past her toes.

And her shirt…Dean sighed. It was one of their father's old shirts. A simple dark green cotton t-shirt but he knew it was their dad's. She had started wearing some of his old things. Mostly his old flannels, and even if they were too big for her Melody still wore them. Dean had glimpsed in the back seat one night and saw she had their dad's old jacket. She had fallen asleep with her face buried into the fabric.

She missed him more than he realized. John Winchester had never been a completely perfect father…probably one of the poorest examples of one. He was a loud, belligerent drunk and had lashed out at Dean on more than one occasion. He had only gotten to Melody once, but she was very little…hardly over six years old when it had happened. Dean wasn't even sure his sister remembered it. But a part of her must have. Because ever since then, whenever John would get drunk…Melody would mysteriously disappear.

For years she hardly spoke to him, only whenever it was necessary. However when she was about twenty years old, right around when Sam had left for Stanford…John seemed to have a wakeup call. He had been speaking privately with Melody. Dean never knew what they had been talking about, had never really wanted to intrude on their privacy, but after about two years Melody and their father seemed much closer.

Dean started collecting their things together. They were leaving in the morning and he wanted everything ready so they could leave quickly. He picked up his sister's bag and heaved felt it slip in his hands and caught it before everything fell out. Luckily only a few shirts and her journal fell to the floor. Dean grumbled and picked them up, stopping when his hand touched the dark chocolate leather of his sister's journal.

He shouldn't…he really, really shouldn't. But…he just couldn't resist. He wouldn't read everything, just give it a peek, see what she's been writing all this time. Dean sat down at the table and flipped through the pages. Most were just her entries, Melody's neat, tight cursive scrawling across the pages. Some pages had drawings. There was one of the Impala, one of Sam sleeping against the headboard of a bed…and one of Dean. It was the back of his head, driving the Impala down some country road.

Dean smiled; not knowing his sister was such an artist and flipped the page. On this new page was a ball of light. Somehow she had gotten a hold of colored pencils and had drawn different streaks of color all around the light. Underneath the picture, written in her writing were the words, "What are you?" and it was underlined in bright red. Huh…Dean squinted at the drawing but wasn't quite sure why his sister would draw something like that. He looked over at the page next to the drawing and froze. At the top of the page was the title "In Case".

Dean read the lines; they were exactly like he remembered from the dream world. He sat back, and tried to think. When had he heard it before? Obviously everything in the dream world he had already seen but the song? And then it hit him. Weeks ago when Sam had gone missing and they were taking a quick break in a hotel room Dean had fallen asleep. But he was woken up by the sound of soft singing. He hadn't moved, just laid still to try and figure out if he had left the radio on or the television but…he recognized his sister's voice. She was singing softly to herself the exact same lyrics he was reading.

So she wrote it herself…Dean was incredibly impressed and a little stunned. He never realized that his sister was such an artist. Sure he remembered when they were younger and bored waiting for their father to come back, she would stand up and sing Brittany Spears trying to get her brothers to join but they would only laugh at her. And he remembered how she had confided once that she used to dream of becoming a star singer…but like him and Sam, she had to put that dream away.

Melody shifted in her sleep and Dean quickly shut the journal and stuffed it into her bag. He decided at that moment to never speak to her about anything he had seen. For one thing, she would probably murder him if she knew he had gone through her journal. And the other…well he just didn't want her to know.

* * *

_Next chapter will be filled with Winchesterfeels...be prepared! (insert Lion King song...heh) Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	19. And Straight Into the Inferno

**OH MY GOD! Winchesterfeels everywhere! Seriously I started crying while I was writing the chapter! Gah! Whew...alright I'm going to go curl up in a ball and watch Supernatural re-runs for a while...maybe have a netflix marathon...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

"And don't forget the extra onions this time huh?" Dean asked holding up a twenty dollar bill. Sam sighed and plucked the money from his brother's hands,

"Dude, Melody and I are the ones who're gonna have to ride in the car with your extra onions."

Melody leaned up from the backseat giving him a five dollar bill of her own, "Cheese fries." Sam moaned and took the money before getting out of the car. Melody and Dean shared a grin before Dean leaned over,

"Hey see if they got any pie." Sam leaned down and gave him a seething look before shutting the door. Melody shouted out at him,

"Bring apple pie!" They watched the youngest shake his head as he walked up to the tiny diner. Melody giggled, reaching over the front seat and turning up the radio. Boston's "Long Time" played through the speakers and Melody quietly sang along with the lyrics. She tried to get her brother to sing along but stopped when the radio began to crackle and whine with static.

Melody moaned in frustration while Dean reached down and tapped the radio. Eventually the music and the static came to a halting stop, and a dead silence fell over the car. Dean looked back at his sister, giving her a concerned look then followed where her eyes had landed. Melody was staring at the diner with wide, fearful eyes. Everyone who had been inside the diner…was gone.

"That's not possible…" she mumbled getting out of the car with Dean close behind her. She had seen Sam go inside the diner; she had watched him walk up to the counter and talk to the waitress with her own eyes. Melody followed Dean as the jogged into the diner and he threw open the door. Lazy country music played on the speakers and they both froze. There was a man lying on a table in a pool of blood. The Winchester's immediately whipped out their pistols calling out for their brother.

"Sam?" Dean raised his voice, letting off the safety of his pistol. Melody walked ahead of her brother keeping her gun pointed down but her grip on it was tight. She walked around the counter, saw a slab of meat slowly burning on top of the grill, and froze. The waitress she had spotted through the window and a cook were both lying on the floor behind the counter, their throats slashed open.

Dean walked around Melody and opened up the back door of the diner, "Sam?" he called staring out at the dark. He got no answer and slowly pulled the door closed but froze when he felt Melody grip his arm tightly.

"Dean…" she said pointing down at the door. On the edge of the window on the door was a pile of fresh sulfur. Melody let out a shaking breath and ran back out the front of the diner, "Sam?"

She turned round and round searching through the dark looking for any sign of her little brother. Dean joined her, "Sammy?" he cried and gripped his sister's arm pulling her down the walkway towards their car. Melody put her pistol back into the belt loop of her pants and wrapped her hands over Dean's, afraid that if she let go he would disappear too. Dean came to a slow stop by the Impala, "Sam!" he shouted but got no answer.

Melody felt a shiver run up her spine, "Where are you?"

* * *

_April 29, 2007_

_Sam is gone. Like before but…this is different. This time we found sulfur. It was the demon I know it. Freaking Yellow Eyes took him this time, it had to be. We were at this tiny ass diner. Dean and I were starving and we made Sam go in-by himself-to get us food. I knew I should have gone in with him. If I had been there, if I had gone inside instead of Sam…_

_We're heading to Bobby's right now. Hopefully he can help us find Sam. I don't…I don't really have a lot more to say. Dean isn't really talking; I feel like I might break down any second…I didn't even get my stupid cheese fries…_

* * *

"This is it," Bobby sighed stretching out a map of the United States on top of his car. Melody and Dean flanked the old mechanic and stared down at the map while he continued, "all demonic signs and omens over the past month."

"Are you joking?" Dean pointed at the map, "There's nothing here."

"Exactly."

Melody chewed her lip and stared at her surrogate uncle, "Come on Bobby. There's got to be something. What about that normal, low-level stuff?"

Dean nodded, "Yeah, exorcisms, that kind of thing?"

"That's what I'm telling you." Bobby shrugged his shoulders, "There's nothing. It's completely quiet."

"How are we supposed to look for Sam?" Dean leaned up from the car and threw out his hands, "Close our eyes and point?" he huffed and dug out his phone as it rang loudly at him. Dean flipped open the phone, "Ash, what do you got?"

The mullet toting genius spoke on the other end, _"Okay listen. It's a bit negatory on Sam."_

Dean pressed the phone closer to his ear, "Come on, man. You got to give us something. We're looking at a three-thousand mile haystack here."

"_Listen, Dean." _Ash's voice lowered to a harsh whisper,_ "I did find something."_

"Well what?"

"_I can't talk over this line, Dean—"_

"Come on I don't have time for this." He growled but Ash only insisted.

"_Make time, okay? Cause this…not only does this almost definitely help you find your brother, this is…it's huge. So get here now."_

The line went dead and Dean slapped his phone shut. "I guess we're going to the Roadhouse."

* * *

They got there in record time thanks to Dean's reckless and speedy driving. Melody leaned forward, anxious to get to Ash and hear what he had to say. Dean pulled the car around and felt everyone in the car, himself, his sister and even Bobby tense up. The Roadhouse was decimated. It looked like a giant bomb had gone off in the middle of the building. A huge, gaping hole shot out in the middle of the building and debris and pieces of wood and…other things were scattered all around.

"What the hell?" Dean breathed out as he pulled the car to a slow stop. They all shared wary looks before slowly getting out of the car. Melody walked behind her brother, keeping a hand on his shoulder as they all walked through the wreckage.

Bobby covered his mouth and rubbed his face, "My god…"

They could see bodies-burned bodies-of hunters and innocent people alike. Melody could hardly stand the smell and moved closer to Dean, searching solid ground. Dean, feeling his sister's distress reached back and gripped her hand before asking, "You see Ellen?"

"No," Bobby answered looking around at the burnt remains, "no Ash either."

Melody sucked in a shaking breath and moved away from Dean. Bending down she gingerly touched a scarred, silver watch attached to a charred hand. Melody felt tears burn at the edges of her eyes, "Oh god…Ash no…"

She felt an onslaught of tears come up and quickly stood going to her brother for help. Ash had blatantly flirted with her every time they saw him. As much as Melody had hated it and as much as she wanted to just shave off his stupid mullet…she always found Ash's behavior to be incredibly endearing. It broke her heart to see such a kind, funny and smart man get murdered and die the way he had.

Melody buried her face in Dean's chest, "He didn't deserve this Dean, none of these people did."

Dean wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "I know." Gently he began to pull and lead her out of the destroyed bar with Bobby close behind. Melody wiped her eyes but still kept a hold on her brother while Bobby shook his head,

"This is…"

"What the hell did Ash know?" Dean sighed, "We got no way of knowing where Ellen is or if she's even alive." All three came to a stop by the Impala, the Winchesters standing on one side and Bobby on the other facing them. Dean threw out his free hand, "We got no clue what Ash was gonna tell us. Now, how the hell are we gonna find Sam?"

"We'll find him," Bobby said gently trying to reassure the Winchesters. Melody wrapped her arm around Dean giving him a comforting squeeze but it turned into a tight grip when she felt Dean's knees give out as he gripped his head.

"Dean? What's wrong?" she said pulling away from him and gripping his face in her hands. He seemed to shake himself and stared at her. Melody watched his pupils shrink and he squeezed his eyes shut again letting out a groan of pain. Dean leaned his head down, gripping his head with his hands and felt Melody grab his shoulders to help keep him stable.

His head felt like it was being pierced and ripped open. Dean grunted as an image of an old bell flashed in his mind. And just as soon as the headache had hit him, it was gone. "Dean?" Bobby asked from his side of the Impala, "What happened?"

"I don't know. Headache?" He said looking back up at his sister, her face wrinkled with fear and confusion.

"You get headaches like that a lot?" he heard Bobby ask and saw Melody shoot him a worried look while she shook her head.

"No," Dean answered, "no…it must be the stress." He chuckled but got no humor out of himself or the others and stood up straight, "I could have sworn I saw something."

"What do you mean?" Melody asked placing a hand on his forehead gently though she didn't feel any fever, "Like…a vision? Like what Sammy gets?"

Dean, although he appreciated his sister's concern, shook her off of him not wanting her to fuss so much, "No, no not like that."

"Well…it could happen," she defended crossing her arms. Dean gave her a dumbfounded look,

"Come on Mels, I'm not some psychic." He sighed exasperated but it turned into a groan as another wave of stabbing pain shot through him, only now it was a billion times stronger and more excruciating.

"Dean?" Melody called as he fell down on top of the hood of the Impala. He gripped his head, saw another flash of the bell and then…Sam.

"Dean?!" Bobby shouted after he got a scared look from Melody. They both flanked him, grabbing his arms and trying to help him stand. Dean let out a shaking breath and felt Bobby grip the back of his neck, "You with us?"

"Yeah, I think so." He leaned his aching head down, "I saw Sam. I saw him."

Melody put his arm over her shoulders and helped him stand, letting her brother lean on her. "It _was_ a vision." Bobby said as he watched Melody support her brother.

"Yeah," he nodded letting Melody fuss over him and check his temperature again, he was too tired to try to stop her. "I don't know how, but—but yeah." Dean sighed, "Whew. That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels."

"What else did you see?" Bobby asked him.

"Uh there was a bell."

Melody stared up at him, "What kind of bell?"

Dean tried to think back to the visions, "Um, like a big—a big bell with some kind of engraving on it. I don't know."

Bobby's brow scrunched up in thought, "Engraving? Was it a tree—like an oak tree?"

"Yeah, exactly." Dean nodded and saw Melody exchange a scared look with Bobby as she said,

"Oh no…"

"Yeah," Bobby nodded at her then looked at Dean, "I know where Sam is."

* * *

_April 29, 2007_

_We found him. Well, not really. Bobby and I just figured out where Sam is. Once Dean described his vision to us, it was obvious. Cold Oak, South Dakota. I've read the story enough that I know when someone's telling me about the town bell. Bobby is actually the one who read me the story. I was about nine or ten, and we were at his house-dropped off by dad-and it was my birthday. Since it was Halloween I wanted to hear a scary story but of course my brothers didn't want to tell me anything. So Uncle Bobby was next. I waited until my brothers fell asleep and then found Bobby in his office. He sat me down in his lap, opened up this huge leather book and told me the whole story of Cold Oak._

_Well we're just about there, only a few minutes out. I keep thinking about the Roadhouse. I hope Ellen is alright. We didn't see her…body at the bar so maybe she got away. But Ash's body was there. I didn't know him that well, I wish I did though. Every time we showed up at the Roadhouse he would always greet me with a "hey baby-cakes" and flip his stupid mullet around like he was the hottest thing on the planet. Honestly I hated that haircut. But it just fit him perfectly. He didn't deserve to die like that, none of those hunters did. I hope we find Sam…_

* * *

Dean groaned, getting Melody's attention who quickly stuffed her journal away and looked out the front window. A line of fallen trees blocked the road entering the town, preventing the car from moving any further. Bobby, Dean and Melody all got out of the car, "Well," Bobby shrugged, "looks like the rest of the way's on foot."

Melody popped open the trunk of the Impala and pulled out a sawed-off shotgun, checked it for ammo then handed it off to Bobby. Dean took a shotgun for himself and Melody pulled out her own as well. Bobby and Dean both grabbed flashlights and Melody made sure she had her iron knife before she slammed the trunk closed.

"Let's go." Dean said flicking on his light and leading the way. Melody and Bobby followed, keeping close so they wouldn't get separated in the dark. They all walked silently through the dark, only moonlight and their flashlights guided the way. As they walked Melody couldn't help but let her mind wander. Soon…she found herself thinking about the light that used to visit her dreams.

She hadn't seen it in months; she didn't even hear its/his voice anymore. Melody wondered if it had all just been a dream. If she had just thought up the light, just thought up the voices. Maybe she was just crazy. Castiel…she thought about the name it had told her, she could only assume it was the light's name. _If I think about you, will you come to me?_ Melody glanced up at the night sky, hoping and wondering that maybe one of the stars was her light friend. She never learned what it was, or why it was coming to her.

Melody only knew two things. One, its name must be Castiel. Two…she missed him. She actually missed whatever it was. Whether it was just her imagination or really a real thing…she missed it. Melody glanced back up at the sky then at her companions. She had fallen back a few steps, just enough that she was by herself but could easily get to them should she need to. Melody sucked in a breath and looked at the stars again and whispered, "Castiel? Are you with me?" A chill ran up her arms as a soft breeze of air flew past her. Melody had to grin…she knew it was him…it—whatever.

Before she could whisper anything further she heard Dean pick up his pace. That's when she saw it…the town. Melody sprinted up to join her brother as he started jogging and shouted, "Sam!"

They came around the corner to the main path leading through the abandoned town and Melody sighed with relief. There was her little brother standing just a few feet up the road, holding his shoulder and a fresh bruise forming on his face but other than that he looked perfectly fine. "Sam!" Melody called smiling widely with relief.

"Dean. Melody," Sam nearly cried at seeing his siblings. They both smiled at him too but their faces turned to pure horror.

"Sammy!"

"Sam! Look out!" Dean and Melody screamed breaking into full sprints. They watched as a man in military gear thrust a knife deep into their little brother's back. Sam threw his head backwards, grunting and grimacing. "NO!" Melody and Dean both cried running up to their brother. Sam fell to his knees, and his attacker ran off. Bobby followed him while Dean and Melody skidded on their knees in front of their brother.

Dean grabbed Sam by the shoulders, "No. Sam." Melody could only kneel down next to Dean and watch silently. She glanced at his back and grimaced. Melody knew right then that it was over…but she didn't say anything to her oldest brother knowing that it was going to be hard enough for him already.

Sam's head fell forward on Dean's shoulder. Dean caught him, "Whoa, Sam. Sam—hey. Come here let me look at you," he leaned over and put his hand over his brother's wound, paused then pulled Sam back up, "Hey, look. Look at me. It's not even that bad."

Melody felt hot tears fall down her cheeks as she chocked back a sob and watched Dean try to get Sam to look at him as he repeated, "It's not even that bad, alright? Sammy?"

Sam's eyes moved back and forth but he wasn't seeing anything. Melody reached out and gripped Sam's hand, and he weakly returned the gesture though his strength was quickly fading. Dean shook his brother again, "Sam! Hey, listen to me. We're gonna patch you up, okay? You'll be as good as new." Sam's head fell forward again but Dean held him up,

"I'm gonna take care of you. I got you. That's my job, right? Watch out for my pain-in-the-ass little brother." Now Sam's eyes were closed, and his hold on Melody's hand had completely gone limp.

"Dean…" Melody sobbed but he didn't hear her, only grabbed their brother's face and shook him again,

"Sam. Sam?" he got no reply, saw his brother's eyes had closed and shouted, "Sammy!"

Melody couldn't hold back and let out a blubbering cry, "Dean he…h-he's—"

"No," Dean shook his head and gave his brother another hard shake, "no, no, no, no." And that's when he saw it. Sam was gone… "Oh god," Dean swallowed the lump in his throat, tried to fight against the tears but they just kept coming, "Oh god no."

Dean wrapped his arms around Sam, hoping that by some miracle he would wake up. Melody sobbed and grabbed Sam's hand again, gripping it tightly and bowing her head as her shoulders shook violently. As she felt her hot tears burning down her face and her throat close up, she heard one last, terrible sob from her older brother before he cried out, "Sam!"

* * *

_May 1, 2007_

_He's dead. My brother…Sam…I watched him die. It…_

_I can't. Not right now. I can't talk about it right now…_

* * *

A few lone tears dropped down onto the near blank page of Melody's journal. Dean had finally fallen asleep which left Melody alone in the kitchen. She glanced over; Sam's body lied still on an old bed. Getting up as quietly as she could, Melody walked over to the room where her and Dean and put their brother. Melody and Dean had gotten into a huge argument that day. She wanted to bury Sam, burn his body, give him a proper hunter's funeral. But Dean just wouldn't hear it, going off on her and screaming and yelling. Bobby had talked to her that day too, saying that if she needed to, she could come along with him. The idea was extremely tempting to Melody, and she was hoping that by the end of today she could convince Dean to do the same.

Melody slowly walked up to her little brother's body. He looked like he was just sleeping peacefully, and all she had to do was wake him up, tell him to get his giant ass out of bed before she kicked it out for him. She lowered herself down and sat at the edge of the bed holding her arms around her as if to keep herself stable.

"Hey," she whispered glancing at her little brother, "you're a real downer you know that?"

Sam didn't answer and that only made the tears form faster in Melody's eyes. She stood and walked around to the other side of the bed and gently laid down next to her brother. She picked up his arm and put it around her before resting her head on his shoulder. "You remember when we used to sleep like this when we were kids?" she asked him and sniffled, "Me and you we'd stay up all night watching late night horror films—of course we'd be all tough about it, saying they didn't scare us…"

Melody let out a breathy laugh and looked up at Sam, "But they would right? And when Dean was finally asleep, I'd crawl into your bed and we'd huddle under the covers all night long…waiting for the monsters to come take us away…but they never did."

Her mouth quivered and a wash of tears began to roll down her face, "They got to you this time though…and I wasn't there to p-protect you…" Melody messily wiped at her tears before resting her hand against the edge of his jacket. She gripped the fabric, "I never taught you the song me and Dean sing together. He sings it to me when I'm feeling down and…and I sing it to him too…"

Another wave of tears hit her but this time she didn't fight them, "I was hoping to s-sing it to you sometime. Then it would b-be the whole Winchester kid's song you know?" Melody sniffled and buried her head deeper into her brother before she began to sing softly, only loud enough for herself to hear,

"When the night…has come…and the land is d—" she stopped mid-way as a blubbering sob overtook her. Melody wept quietly on the bed next to her little brother, unable to return to singing the song, unable to even move. She just held on to her brother even tighter wishing he could hold her back…but he never did.

* * *

The next morning Melody woke up as the sun was rising. Stiffly, she got out of the bed not looking back at her brother's body afraid that another fit of sobs would come over her. Dean woke up not too long after her. All day, neither of them spoke to each other, just sat quietly, afraid to speak to one another.

Around mid-afternoon she was sitting in the kitchen again at the table. Arms resting on the table top, head slightly tilted to the side, staring at nothing. Dean was leaning against the doorframe leading into the room they had put their brother. They heard the front door of the abandoned, run down cabin they had taken shelter in open,

"Dean? Melody?" Bobby Singer called. Both Winchesters looked at him as he shut the door and held up a bucket of fried chicken, "Brought you this back."

"No thanks. I'm fine," Dean said not moving from his spot. Melody glanced up at Bobby,

"I made us some sandwiches earlier." She gestured to her empty plate and Dean's still full plate. Bobby saw her meaning and set down the food,

"You should eat something."

"I said I'm fine." Dean grumbled getting up from his spot and walking over to the table. He picked up the bottle of whiskey he and his sister had been sharing and took a large gulp. Melody shared a wary look with Bobby before returning to staring at the table.

Bobby took a crack at talking some sense into the oldest Winchester like he and Melody had talked about before. "Dean…I hate to bring this up. I really do. But don't you think maybe it's time…we bury Sam?"

Melody looked up and watched Dean give her an icy stare before looking at Bobby, "What did she talk to you too?" he shook his head, "No."

Dean sat down across from his sister while Bobby tried again. "Well we could," he sighed, "maybe…"

"What?" Dean grumbled crossing his arms over his chest, "Torch his corpse? Not yet."

Bobby slowly leaned his hands on the table, "I want you kids to come with me." Dean only shook his head and rested his arms on the table,

"I'm not going anywhere."

Melody sighed, "Dean, please. I'm thinking about going with him…"

"Won't you two cut me some slack?" Dean complained moving his glare from Melody to Bobby. The old mechanic shrugged his shoulders,

"I just don't think you two should be alone, that's all. I got to admit—I could use your help." Dean scoffed but Bobby ignored him and continued, "Something big is going down…end-of-the-world big."

"Well then let it end!" Dean shouted getting two surprised, shocked looks from his sister and Bobby.

Bobby slowly shook his head, "You don't mean that." Dean got out of his chair, knocking it over. Melody sat still in her seat, keeping her eyes cast down at the table completely shutting herself out of the storm that was her brother's temper.

"You don't think so?" Dean asked Bobby in quiet anger, "You don't think I've given enough? You don't think I've paid enough? I'm done with it…all of it—Melody too."

That got her attention. Melody stood up, angry, frustrated and heartbroken and stared at her big brother fiercely, "You don't decide that for me. You don't get to just shut down and forget everything else." She pointed a finger at his chest, "You're not the only one mourning Sam. _You_ aren't his only _family_."

Melody felt the tears coming up again and turned her back on them, holding her chin in her hand to try and stop it from quivering anymore. Dean nodded slowly, "Fine. If you want to go with him so bad," he jerked his head at Bobby then stared down his surrogate uncle, "then I suggest you turn around and get the hell out of here."

Bobby didn't move and Dean felt his temper boil over. He reached out and shoved Bobby in the chest sending the man back a few steps, "Go!"

Turning around, Melody saw her brother slowly realize what he had done as Bobby gave him a hurt but concerned look. "I'm sorry…" Dean mumbled moving back to the table to lean against the back of a chair, "I'm sorry. Please just go."

Slowly, Bobby looked over at Melody who only shook her head at him. Telling him what he didn't want to hear but it hurt him all the same. "You know where I'll be." Bobby said before turning and leaving them behind.

As the door shut, and they heard the engine of Bobby's truck pull away Dean slowly realized his sister was still standing in the kitchen with him. "Didn't I tell you to go?"

"Didn't I tell you to stuff it where the sun don't shine?" Melody grumbled crossing her arms and staring at him, almost challenging him to try and make her go. But Dean was too tired, too depressed to fight with his sister anymore. Instead he turned his back toward her and sat on the table, taking the whiskey bottle and drinking from it again.

He couldn't have been sitting like that for more than half a minute but he was startled when he felt his sister lean against the table next to him and take the bottle from his hands. She sipped at it before setting it down behind them. Melody sighed, "You know I'm never leaving you…right?"

Dean stared out the windows and crossed his arms, not feeling like talking to her. Fed up with his shit attitude Melody stood up in front of him, bending down to catch his eyes, "Hey! Get your ass out of your head huh?"

"What do you want from me?!" he shouted standing up to his full height in front of her, "What you want me to cry and sob? Burn the body and just pretend he never existed?" Melody's eyes widened from shock but that didn't stop him. Dean kept going, his voice getting louder and louder with each word, "You know what? You're not even that upset about it are you? I bet you were just begging Bobby to come get you huh?"

Melody stood to her full height as well and poked him hard in the chest, "Don't you say that Dean Henry Winchester! Don't you even dare! Sam was just as much my brother too! Do you hear me?" she hit him in the chest with a fist, though it was weak as tears began to form in her eyes,

"He was my brother too! He was my baby brother, my little big moron and now he's gone! Because I wasn't fast enough…" she hit him again getting weaker and weaker as she slowly broke down, "I'm never there when he needs me! He-he was always there for me and I c-couldn't be there…he was my brother too…he was m-my brother too…"

She sobbed and cried loudly leaning into Dean's chest, searching comfort and support. Dean couldn't help himself, couldn't fight back anymore. He let out a sob of his own and pulled his sister to his chest, feeling her wrap her arms around his middle tightly. "I'm sorry Mels…I'm sorry." Dean said holding her tighter and kissing the top of her hair.

Melody answered by tightening her arms around him and mumbled, "I'm not leaving you brother-bear…ever."

* * *

Later that night, after Melody had forced Dean to eat a sandwich after lots of begging, they both were seated in chairs next to Sam's body. Melody had her arms wrapped around one of Dean's as she laid her head against his shoulder.

Dean let out a shaking breath, "You know when we were little—he couldn't have been more than five—he just started asking questions."

Melody nodded, "I remember…he'd ask how come we didn't have a mom, or…why do we always have to move around…" she felt Dean tighten his grip on her as he continued,

"Or, where'd dad go when he'd take off for days at a time." He sucked in a deep breath, "I remember I begged him—"Quit asking, Sammy. Man you don't want to know"—I just wanted him to be a kid…we both did."

"Just for a little while longer." Melody finished for him and felt another wave of tears come up her throat. She excused herself, going toward the ground floor bathroom and shutting to door quickly. Dean watched her go and leaned his elbows on his knees,

"I always tried to protect you…keep you safe. The both of you." he sighed gesturing towards the closed bathroom door, "Dad didn't even have to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know?" Dean forced down the lump in his throat, "It's like I had _one_ job…I had _one_ job…and I screwed it up."

His voice broke and he ran a hand down his face, "I blew it. And for that, I'm sorry." Dean wiped away the few tears that had fallen and chuckled, though he felt no humor in his voice, "I guess that's what I do. I let down the people I love. I let dad down. Pretty sure I broke Melody's heart—don't know why she's decided to stay with a scumbag like me though…"

Dean sniffled and looked at his dead brother, "And now I guess I'm just supposed to let you down too. How can I? How am I supposed to live with that? What am I supposed to do?" his mouth quivered, "Sammy...god…what am I supposed to do?"

He stood from his seat, felt his sorrow turn into anger and kicked at the chair, "What am I supposed to do?!"

Melody wiped at her eyes, not wanting to deal with her brother's raging sorrow again and electing to give him space. She leaned against the sink and splashed cold water on her face, trying to stop feeling so swollen. Taking in a deep breath, Melody moved to open the door but stopped when she heard a small thump and saw the door to the bathroom shake.

She tried to turn the knob but felt it get stuck on something. Melody pounded on the door, it wouldn't budge. "Dean?" she called, hoping that maybe the wood had just swelled up and the door was just stuck. But something told her different…something told her, her brother was about to do something completely stupid. Melody pounded on the door, "Dean?!"

That's when she heard the sound of the front door closing, and then the distant sound of the Impala's engine turning over. "No! Dean! Stop!" Melody knew exactly what he was going to do, because she had thought about doing the same thing for a half second last night before reconsidering, and realizing how stupid it was.

Melody backed up and threw her shoulder into the bathroom door, it gave a few inches but didn't completely open. "God dammit!" she screamed and felt her rage boil up from inside of her. Melody glanced in the mirror, her eyes were those silver discs like Sam had described. She could see why people found it so intimidating now. Deciding to admire that later she turned back to the door and snarled at it, raising up her leg and kicking. The door shattered, splinters flying everywhere as it flew open and hit the opposite wall. Melody ran out the front door, seeing the Impala turn and peel off down the dirt road.

"DEAN! STOP!" she sprinted after the car but tripped over herself and fell to the ground. Melody sat up on her knees, forgetting about her anger and only feeling massive amounts of fear and regret. She sobbed and leaned her face down into her hands, sobbing, "No…you selfish bastard no…"

* * *

_I told you...winchesterfeels...oh and did anyone else see Misha's tweet today? What do you think he's going to reveal tomorrow? Or is he just being a massive troll? If he is...it would not be funny..._

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	20. Desperado

**Sorry if this is a little on the short side everyone, but I'm going to be gone the next few days and wanted to give you all at least some closure with the last chapter. Is it bad that I had a lot of fun writing the fight scenes between Melody and Dean? Eh...maybe I'm just weird like that :) **

**ALSO...the song I used for inspiration for this chapter is Desperado by Johnny Cash. I know the Eagles did it originally but I prefer the Johnny Cash version...his voice just really captures the grit and struggle that the Winchesters have to go through. Also Desperado has always been the perfect song for Dean Winchester, at least in my head. There is a link to my spotify playlist that I made for this fanfic on my profile if you'd like to hear it :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

Melody ran back into the house and paced the entry way, gripping her head and letting out a stream of curses. "Shit! God dammit, piece of shit…selfish…asshole!" She kneeled down, burying her head in between her knees and let out a loud, broken scream. "You can't do this to me—don't do this!"

Of course nobody answered, the wind only howled outside and her head began to pound. Melody fell on her side on the wooden floor and curled up into a tight ball. "Don't do this to me…don't do this to me…"

She repeated this mantra over and over until the sobs finally overcame her. Melody wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stay together but she was falling apart—piece by piece as the seconds droned by. Melody didn't know what to do…didn't know if she should even try anymore. Squeezing her eyes shut she turned her head towards the ceiling. Opening them, she was greeted by the cold, dark and decaying wood of the house. "Dad…mom? Please somebody help me…"

Nobody answered. She decided to just lie on the floor, curled up in a tight ball and cry. It was all she could do now, she was too weak. As the sun began to slowly rise over the horizon, a mocking, warm, pinkish glow fell across the inside of the house. Melody thought back to her birthday, how she and her brothers had watched the sunrise together on the coast. She missed those times…when they were free of the burdens they now felt.

Another wave of tears came over her. Melody covered her face with her hands, body shaking violently with each sob that racked through her. "Cas?" she called, "Castiel…?" Melody wept loudly and stared up at the ceiling again, "Please…what should I do? What am I supposed to do?"

_"…help…him…"_

Melody gasped and sat up straight. She had heard it—she had heard the voice! She looked around trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from but couldn't find its source, "Castiel? Where are you?"

_"…help…Dean…watch…Sam…"_

She wasn't sure but she could have sworn the voice was actually _inside_ her head. Melody blinked and shook her head, opening her mouth to call to him again but froze. From the far side of the house…she heard Sam gasp.

Scrambling and getting to her feet clumsily, Melody ran over to the room and for the briefest moment, felt pure relief. Sam was staring up at her with wide, confused eyes. "Oh my god…Sammy…" Melody breathed out running over and falling on the bed throwing her arms around his neck.

Sam caught her as he was sitting up, grunting when he felt his back throb in protest. Gently he pulled Melody away from him, her eyes were read and tears ran down her cheeks. "Wha…what happened?"

Melody laughed—a joyous, thankful sound as she threw her arms around him again, "We just thought we lost you for a second. You've been knocked out for a few days. Nothing we couldn't fix though right?" She had decided from the moment her little brother laid eyes on her, to not tell him the truth regarding his death and now resurrection. No…Melody decided that Dean could be the one to deal with that little shit-storm.

She squeezed her brother, feeling the joy and relief wash away when she thought about her big brother. Melody knew exactly what he had done. Made a deal at a crossroads…it was exactly what she had thought about doing the night before. But she decided not to, knowing how it would destroy the rest of her small family and how completely selfish it was. As happy as she was to be holding her alive little brother again…she also felt a great sense of dread. Because gaining one brother, would cause her to lose the other. She was almost too afraid to think about how long—or how short—of time Dean had now.

Sam grimaced again, "Ah…what happened to my back?" Over the years, Melody had become a master at making up a quick lie, and she hated herself for doing it to her own little brother.

"We had to stitch you up, you got stabbed pretty badly. Don't know if I did that good a job. Dean went out to get some supplies, he should be back soon."

"Can I…" Sam winced again, "can I see it?" Melody knew he was talking about his wound and nodded. Slowly she stood and helped him up, gently pulling off his jacket and placing it on the bed. Melody led him over to the far wall, where an oval shaped mirror was hanging. She had Sam face his back to the mirror and helped him lift up his shirt.

Sam let out a heavy breath as he peered over his shoulder at the wound. It was red, it was fresh and it looked like a violent scar. He gave his sister a questioning look, not believing anyone could survive from such a terrible wound but stopped when they heard the front door open. Soon, their brother Dean came around the corner.

Dean halted and let out a breath, "Sammy…thank god." He tried—and failed—to ignore the murderous glare he got from his sister. Luckily she was standing behind Sam, so he didn't see the look she shot Dean…or even feel it.

Sam stared at his older brother a bit shocked still at waking up, "Hey." Melody, unable to control herself, marched around her brothers and out of the house. She could not stand to even look at Dean. How could he do this to them?

Melody slammed the front door open and plopped down on the steps leading up to the house. She buried her face in her hands, gold and caramel tresses falling all around her acting like a shield to the outside world. About two minutes passed and she heard the front door open…and she knew—lord she knew _exactly_ who it was.

Dean slowly sat down next to her, making sure not to touch her for fear of her wrath. "You uh…want to go get a pizza with me?" She stood up and walked to the car without saying a word, Dean took that as his queue and followed. They sat in the car in silence for about thirty seconds—the house was still within walking distance—before Melody threw out her hands.

"Stop the car."

"What?" Dean gave her a dumbfounded look which only cause Melody to scream,

"Stop the _fucking_ car Dean!"

Luckily he complied and pulled the car to a slow halt. Melody got out of the car and walked around to the front, mouth set into a thin line, arms at her sides, fists clenched tightly. Dean hadn't gotten out yet, which only caused Melody to get angrier, "Dammit Dean, get your stupid ass out here right now!"

He complied again, leaving the car running and walked around to the front of the Impala, leaning on its hood. With his hands in his pockets he shrugged, "You gonna let me have it?"

"You bet your ass I am!" she reeled, facing him and pointing an accusing finger at him, "You are a selfish, worthless excuse for a brother do you know that? All my life I relied on you-_you_-to be my rock, my solid ground, my shelter in the fucking storm," she threw out her arms,

"And here we are in the middle of one of the _biggest_ shit storms we've _ever_ had to endure and when I need you the most, when I need you to be here for me-_for your family_-you run off and do the most-_absolutely_-the most selfish thing anyone could ever think of!"

"Well what was I supposed to do?!" Dean cried standing up and tossing out his arms, "Bury him and just move on? Like we did with dad?"

Melody gave him a flabbergasted scoff and stared at him with wide eyes, "Yes! That's what we do Dean! We bury the dead, and when it's their time to go…they go! Am I the only person in this god forsaken family who understands that?!"

"I don't know why you're so upset Mels! I thought you'd be happy!"

"How can I be happy when I know that you're going to die?!" she screamed and got a shocked look from her brother, "Oh yes Dean I know _exactly_ what you did, you sold your piece of shit soul to some piece of shit demon—" her voice cracked and Dean saw tears form at the edges of her eyes. Melody sucked in a shaking breath, chest heaving loudly. "How long?" she asked burying her face into her hands.

Dean stared down at his boots, "A year." Melody scoffed, letting out a humorless laugh,

"Great…so I have a year left with you…and then it's just me and Sam." Her voice had calmed down, but her rage was still present as she asked, "How in god's name do you expect us to deal with that? I mean, look at me now," she held out her arms and let out a shaking laugh, "I'm about to go off the deep end just by knowing. What will Sam think when he finds out—"

"He won't." Dean deadpanned but Melody only shook her head,

"No he will. Whether you tell him, or I do-which I'm not planning on it anytime soon. He will find out…and I don't know if I'll be able to handle the guilt. You know, knowing this terrible thing the whole time and Sam just…accepting that he miraculously recovered from a _fatal_ injury."

"Melody let me—"

She held up a hand, "Don't you dare try to explain yourself to me." She took in a deep breath, "Sorry about calling your soul pathetic…it's not…but you are a selfish asshole." Melody grumbled and walked past the car, "I'm staying here. Go get the damn pizza by yourself."

* * *

Melody walked back into the house, though she was no longer outright angry, she was silently seething. It probably helped that she was not seeing Dean's face at the moment…and the fact that her little brother was standing in the kitchen looking worried.

"You alright?" he asked limping to her; obviously his back was hurting him pretty bad.

Melody sucked in a breath, "Yeah…yeah just tired you know? Dean went to get the pizza, I'm just gonna stay here with you." She joined him in the kitchen, keeping her eyes downcast as she walked up to him.

"Mel something is up," Sam said reaching out and gently gripping her shoulder, "can you tell me what's wrong?"

She didn't want to tell him—couldn't tell him the truth. So instead of speaking and afraid that she would let it slip, Melody threw her arms around his neck having to stand on the tips of her toes and pulling Sam down so she could hold him. He let out a grunt of pain, which caused Melody to quickly release him, "Sorry, sorry…I forgot about the…back."

"It's alright Melody." Sam pulled back and gripped her shoulders again making sure to catch her eyes, "You sure there isn't anything wrong?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm sure," she nodded, "I'm just…uh we just almost lost you back there and I can't—" her voice cracked but she swallowed and continued, "I'm just happy to see you up and moving around that's all."

"Melody your acting like I died or something," Sam shook his head and rubbed her shoulders trying to get her to calm down. That seemed to hit a nerve. Melody's face scrunched up like she was pinching back tears and she leaned forward, resting her head on his chest.

"Just hug me you giant moron," she mumbled against the fabric of his shirt. Sam hesitated, trying to decide if he should ask her another question or do as she wanted. Knowing full well what would happen if his sister didn't get what she wanted, he did as she asked and slowly wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay Melody. I'm here now."

* * *

"And that's when you guys showed up." Sam sighed as he finished telling his story and his times in Cold Oak. Melody sat across from him, having only eaten half a slice of the pizza and sipped at her beer. Dean leaned on his hands at the end of the table and bit off another chunk of his third slice of pizza,

"That's awful." He said after he swallowed, "Poor Andy."

Sam nodded thinking back to the horrible deaths each of the victims suffered, and then he remembered his encounter with Yellow Eyes. "The demon said he only wanted one of us to walk out alive."

"He told you that?" Melody asked him, and Sam only chewed at the last bit of his pizza,

"Yep." Sam scoffed, "He appeared in a dream."

Melody froze…what? A demon can appear to you in dreams? Did that mean…no, no she would not—_could_ not believe it. Her visitor was nothing like a demon. He was quiet, benevolent…gentle. Nothing about her visitor said demon. But…demons did lie, in fact most were masters of deception. Oh god…

"He tell you anything else?" Dean's voice brought her back to reality…but Melody still felt the chills of doubt creep across her skin.

"No." Sam shook his head, "No, that was it. Nothing else." Melody could tell he was lying but didn't say anything as he continued, "You know what I don't get. Is if the demon only wanted _one_ of us, then how did Jake and I both get away?"

Jake had been the one to stab Sam in the back and Melody felt a wave of anger come over her at the mention of the name. Then she looked at Dean because she knew Sam would catch on to what was happening, or at least feel an ounce of doubt no matter what either of them said. Dean took the lead and answered,

"Well, I mean, they left you for dead. I'm sure they thought it was over." Melody watched him stand and walk off a few steps casually but she knew why he did that, and why he stuffed the rest of his pizza into his mouth. Dean was afraid Sam would be able to see that he was lying.

Sighing Melody chose to ignore her older brother and looked at her younger brother, "So…now that Yellow Eyes has Jake, what's he gonna do with him?"

"I don't know." Sam stared down at his hands, "But whatever it is, we got to stop him."

Dean swallowed his food and held out his hand, "Now hold on alright? You need to get your rest. We got time."

"No we don't." Melody said fighting the urge to roll her eyes. Her patience was literally about to shatter into pieces with her oldest brother. Dean stared at her and then looked at Sam, getting a head shake from him as well. Dean scoffed,

"Come on guys. Ocean aren't boiling okay? Frogs aren't raining from the sky. Let's get Sam's strength back first."

"Well did you call the roadhouse?" Sam asked his siblings, "Do they know anything?" Melody rubbed her aching head…she had almost completely forgotten about that. Sam noticed his siblings tense up, "Guys…what is it?"

"Sam," Melody began sitting up straight in her seat, "the roadhouse burned to the ground. Ash is dead…probably Ellen."

Dean sat down in the seat next to her, "A lot of other hunters, too." Melody saw the tears begin to pool at the edges of Sam's eyes. Seeking to comfort him, she got up and stood next to him placing a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder. Sam almost ignored the gesture; only put his other hand on top of hers as he asked,

"Demons?"

"Yeah," Dean answered, "we think so. We think because Ash found something."

"What'd he find?" Sam questioned.

"Bobby's working on that right now."

Melody felt Sam move under her hand as he stood up and said, "Well, come on then. Bobby's only a few hours away."

Both of his siblings stopped him. Melody gently held onto his arm while Dean pushed back on his shoulders, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop. Sam, stop dammit." He did and Dean took in a deep breath, "You almost died in there. I mean, what would I have—"

Melody clenched her jaw, not looking at Dean in the eyes, afraid she might spill the beans and say something. "You just take care of yourself for a little bit, huh? Just for a little bit." Dean almost begged him but Melody knew what her youngest brother's answer would be, because she was thinking the exact same thing.

"I'm sorry," Sam said softly, "no."

* * *

Melody crossed her arms over her chest as she stood next to Bobby. They had arrived; Bobby looked like he might have nearly shit his pants when he saw Sam standing in the entryway. Of course, Bobby knew exactly what Dean had done too. As soon as Bobby saw the tense, angry look on Melody's face and the way Dean shrugged off how miraculous it was that Sam was actually _alive_…he knew.

They got down to business quickly after the Winchesters arrived; Bobby didn't really feel like bringing up the issue just yet. "Well I found something." He said standing by his desk, "But I'm not sure what the hell it means.

Sam swallowed, "What is it?"

"Demonic omens," Bobby answered him, "like a frickin' tidal wave." He pointed down to a map and felt Melody lean down next to him for a closer look, "Cattle deaths, lightning storms. They skyrocketed from out of nowhere. Here." he flipped the map around for the boys to see and pointed to the state of Wyoming, "All around here except for one place—southern Wyoming."

"Wyoming?" Dean asked and Bobby nodded his head in confirmation,

"Yeah. That one area's totally clean—spotless. It's almost as if…"

"What?" Melody questioned.

Bobby let out a breath, "The demons are surrounding it."

"But you don't know why?" Dean asked him and again Bobby let out a long, tired breath,

"No and by this point, my eyes are swimming. Sam would you take a look at it? Maybe you can catch something I couldn't."

Sam nodded eagerly, "Yeah sure."

Bobby looked back at the two oldest Winchesters, "Come on you two. I got some more books in the truck. Help me lug them in."

Melody walked around Sam, giving him a small pat on the shoulder and followed Bobby out the front of the house with Dean close behind her. They walked through the junk yard, only getting about twenty feet from the house before Bobby whirled on Dean,

"You stupid ass! What did you do?" Dean didn't answer him at first and Bobby only got more frustrated grabbing at the collar of Dean's jacket, "What did you do?!"

Melody chewed her lip and crossed her arms over her stomach, standing next to the Bobby and Dean she answered for her brother, "He made a deal…for Sam."

Dean had fallen silent and felt the murderous glare from his sister and the most disappointed, guilt ridden tension falling off of Bobby's shoulders as the man asked him, "How long did they give you?"

"Bobby—"

"How long?!"

Dean stared back at him, swallowed and decided he couldn't _not_ answer him. "One year."

"Dammit Dean…" Bobby growled out. Dean all but ignored him and said in a slightly quivering voice,

"Which is why we got to find this yellow-eyed son of a bitch. That's why I'm gonna kill him myself." He shrugged his shoulder, "I got nothing to lose now, right?"

Bobby grabbed him the collar, "I could throttle you!"

Dean fell limp in Bobby's hold and stared down at him with dead, unfeeling eyes, "And send me downstairs ahead of schedule?"

Melody scoffed and rolled her eyes while Bobby released him, "What is it with you Winchesters huh? You, your dad, you're both just _itching_ to throw yourselves down the pit."

"That's my point." Dean shrugged, "Dad brought me back, Bobby. I'm not even supposed to be here. At least this way, something good could come out of it, you know? It's like my life can mean something."

"What? And it didn't before?" Bobby asked him completely shocked at what Dean was saying, "Have you got that low an opinion of yourself? Are you that screwed in the head?!"

Bobby grabbed onto his jacket again, Melody really, really felt like punching something right about then. She stared hard at her brother as he answered in a shaking voice, "I couldn't let him die Bobby. I couldn't. He's my brother."

Bobby shook his head, "How is your brother gonna feel, when he knows you're going to hell? How do you think your sister feels?" he glanced at Melody and saw that she felt pretty damn angry about it then looked back at Dean, "How'd _you_ feel when you knew your dad went for _you_?"

"You can't tell him." Dean said looking at both Bobby and his sister, "You take a shot at me-whatever you got to do-but please don't tell him." Bobby slowly released his hold on Dean, fighting back tears as he gently gripped the boy's face. That's when he heard a loud, _SMACK_, and saw Dean nearly fall over against a broken down car.

Melody stood over him, breathing heavily, fists clenched, hair in her face. She couldn't hold back anymore and when Dean had practically given them the invitation—the 'go-ahead' to take a swing…she took a swing. It was probably the best right hook she had ever thrown before…she hoped it would leave a good, painful, ugly bruise on the side of his pretty face.

"You are the dumbest…most idiotic, worthless piece of—"

_CLANK_

All three turned their attention to the sound. Going into action and putting aside what they had been dealing with before, they all kneeled down behind a pile of cars as footsteps and a shadow came around the corner. Melody was the first to spring into action, getting up and nearly tackling whoever was coming towards them. Dean came after, with Bobby right behind them.

They froze when they saw who it was, "Ellen?" she gasped gripping the woman's arms tightly, "Ellen oh my god…" Melody breathed out, wrapping her arms around the woman's neck, feeling her tremble and wrap her arms around Melody as well. Dean and Bobby flanked Ellen's shoulders, holding onto her tightly.

Melody pulled back and led Ellen back into the house, keeping a tight hold on her arm, afraid that should she let go the one woman in her life that had been more like a mother to her than Melody had ever needed—or known that she wanted—would disappear as quickly as the Roadhouse had.

After Bobby did the "possession test" on Ellen, making her take a shot of holy water before she could get her hands on the good stuff, Ellen began to describe what she had been through.

"Ellen what happened?" Dean asked her nursing his now sore jaw, "How'd you get out?"

Melody stood next to Sam, keeping her distance from Dean. As good as it had felt to punch him in the jaw, she was still just as angry with him and decided that the best thing for her to do was to keep her distance and not talk to him unless it was absolutely necessary.

"I wasn't supposed to." Ellen began her story, "I was supposed to be in there with everybody else." She scoffed, "But we ran out of pretzels, of all things. It was just dumb luck." Bobby had filled up a shot glass of whiskey for her, sliding it across the table. Ellen threw it back, wincing at the burn she continued,

"Anyway, that's when Ash called, panic in his voice." Ellen sighed, "He told me to look in the safe. Then the call cut out. By the time I got back, the flames were sky-high, and everybody was dead. I couldn't have been gone more than fifteen minutes."

"Sorry, Ellen." Sam said gently to her. The woman nodded,

"A lot of good people died in there. And _I_ got to live," she rolled her eyes, "lucky me."

After a small pause Bobby asked, "You mentioned a safe?"

"A hidden safe," Ellen answered, "we keep it in the basement."

"Did the demons get to it?" Melody asked her and Ellen shook her head,

"No." She pulled open her jacket and whipped out a pile of papers. Setting them on the table, everyone saw that it was a map of…

"Wyoming." Dean said startled, "What does that mean?"

* * *

Melody stood next to Sam as they poured through more and more historical records. They couldn't find a damn thing. She was about to give up, about to go grab the bottle of whiskey but Bobby's voice stopped her.

"I don't believe it." He said walking over and putting his open book down on the table where Dean sat. Everyone joined him and Melody stared down at the book,

"What? You got something?"

"A lot more than that." Bobby said then pointed at the map Ellen had brought. There were five X marks on the page and Bobby pointed at each one, "Each of these is an abandoned frontier church—all mid-nineteenth century and all of them built by Samuel Colt."

Dean's brow scrunched up, "Samuel Colt—the demon-killing, gun making Samuel Colt?"

"Yep, and there's more." Bobby flipped the map around, "He built private railway lines connecting church to church. It just happens to lay out like this."

Bobby picked up a black marker and drew lines connecting the churches and railways. Melody stood up straight, "No way…"

"Tell me that's not what I think it is." Dean said staring down at the map and Sam only confirmed their suspicions,

"It's a devil's trap."

"Yeah," Melody said pointing at the map, "A _one-hundred square mile_ devil's trap."

"That's brilliant." Dean nodded appraisingly, "Iron lines demons can't cross."

Ellen leaned down to look closer at the map, "I never heard of anything that massive."

"No one has." Bobby shook his head.

"Well…none of the lines are broken?" Melody asked, "It's all still hunky-dory?"

"Definitely." Sam said getting two confused looks from his siblings.

"How do you know?" Dean asked him and Sam shrugged like it was obvious,

"All those omens Bobby found. I mean, the demons, they must be circling and they can't get in."

"Well, they're damn sure trying." Bobby crossed his arms over his chest.

"Why?" Ellen questioned, "What's inside?"

Dean took the lead, "Well that's what I've been looking for and uh…there's nothing except an old cowboy cemetery right in the middle."

"What's so important about a cemetery or…what's Colt trying to protect?" Sam dug for the answer, thinking out loud.

"Well unless…" Dean began but trailed off. Bobby looked at him,

"Unless what?"

"What if Colt wasn't trying to keep the demons out?" Dean questioned, and saw his sister quickly catch on. Melody stared at him,

"What if he was trying to keep something _in_?"

Ellen scoffed, "That's a comforting thought."

"Yeah."

"You think?" Dean and Melody said over each other. Melody caught his eyes for a second and felt like they had before she was angry with him—before Sam had died and Dean had sold his soul. Melody ignored the feeling of loss and longing when she heard Sam ask,

"Could they do it Bobby? Could they get inside?"

Bobby shook his head, "This thing's so powerful you'd practically need an A-bomb to destroy it. No way a full-blood demon gets across."

Sam stared down at the map for a second then said in a gruff voice, "No. But I know who could."

* * *

_BTW! Misha Collins is a complete TROLL! And did anyone else see they named the 12th Doctor? Yay Peter Capaldi! I'm so excited!_

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	21. The Damn Door to Hell

**So I realize this is on the short side, but I do have another like 4,000 words written for the next chapter and it's not even close to being finished. I am (rather unfortunately) suffering from a minor case of writer's block. Nothing to get too worried about, but I need to just press pause for a couple hours and work out this kink I'm stuck in. Anyways I'll try and work on some other things. One particular new story that I've been playing around with in my head...eh I'll stop talking now. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

Melody crouched down behind a crumbling tombstone, pistol in hand. She glanced over the edge and saw Dean poke his head around the corner of his own hiding spot, catching her eyes. Although Melody still wanted to really, really shoot her big brother in the foot, she put all of her anger and frustration with him aside for the time being. They knew that that Jake kid would show up anytime soon, and they were all ready.

Dean and his sister pulled their heads back behind their hiding places when they heard the squeaking sounds of the rusted gates to the old cemetery open up. Melody crouched lower, peeked around the side of her tombstone and saw the tall, dark figure of Jake walking through the cemetery slowly. He was moving towards the crypt placed near the far edge of the cemetery…Samuel Colt's crypt.

Sam came out of his hiding place and pulled back the hammer of his pistol, "Howdy Jake."

Jake whipped his head around and froze. He moved his eyes over the other figures that came out of the shadows towards him. An older, burly looking man with a baseball cap, a woman with light brown hair, a younger woman with gold and caramel hair and another younger man with short, light brown hair. Jake decided to not make any sudden movements. One, because all five of the people surrounding him had guns trained on him and two…because there was no way Sam could be alive.

He gently held out a hand and gestured to Sam, "Wait…you were dead. I killed you."

"Yeah?" Sam's eyebrows shot up briefly and he smiled mockingly, "Well next time, finish the job."

"I did." Jake insisted, "I cut clean through your spinal cord, man." That seemed to make Sam think. He slowly moved his eyes over towards where his brother and sister where standing. Melody glanced at Dean, and he finally noticed the angry glare she was giving him. Dean looked down at the ground for a moment, avoiding everyone's eyes as Jake continued, "You can't be alive. You can't be."

Bobby held out his gun arm and began talking to Jake softly, gently, "Okay…just take it real easy there, son."

"And if I don't?" Jake sneered at him.

"Wait and see." Sam sneered right back. Jake looked at Sam and nearly scoffed,

"What you a tough guy all of a sudden? What are _you_ gonna do—kill me?"

"It's a thought." Sam replied evenly but Jake only shook his head,

"You had your chance and you couldn't."

Melody glanced over and saw Sam grumble, "I won't make that mistake twice."

Jake watched him for a moment and then a slow, creeping grin crawled across his face as he chuckled darkly. Dean gripped his pistol tighter, "What are you smiling at, you little bitch?"

"Hey lady." Jake began, completely ignoring what Dean had said as he looked at Ellen, "Do me a favor. Put that gun to your head."

Ellen's arms visibly shook and her whole body convulsed as she fought against the force and her own mind. But it was too strong, and Melody watched with slow growing fear as Ellen put the muzzle of her gun against her temple. Jake chuckled again,

"See, that Ava girl was right. Once you give in to it, there's all sorts of new Jedi mind tricks you can learn."

"Let her go." Sam pleaded with him, but Jake just smiled contemptuously at him.

Ellen's voice trembled, "Shoot him."

Jake stared at Sam, "You'll be mopping up skull before you get a shot off." He moved his eyes over the others, "Everybody, put your guns down. Except you, sweetheart." He smiled at Ellen. Bobby was the first to drop his gun, though not without a grunt of displeasure. Dean was next, giving Jake his best, "screw you" face. Melody sneered and threw her gun down at her feet. Sam was last, holding up his arms in surrender as he gently placed the gun on the dirt.

"Thank you." Jake said calmly to them and before Melody could blink he whipped around toward the crypt door. Bobby and Dean ran at Ellen, throwing up her arms as her finger pulled the trigger, luckily the shot fired off into the sky. Melody bent down, scrambling to pick up her gun but by the time she felt the cool metal against her fingers it was too late. Sam had grabbed his pistol and pulled the trigger, firing four times, aiming directly for Jake's heart.

Jake fell over onto his back, blood pouring out of his mouth, gasping for air. Sam slowly advanced on the man's trembling body. Jake held up a hand, "Please…don't…" he begged but Sam ignored the plea. Melody watch with alarm as Sam raised his pistol and shot Jake from above another three times, emptying his clip.

Melody felt Dean lift her up and she didn't shake him off, honestly she'd rather deal with her selfish, asshole big brother than her now very creepy, very intimidating little brother. Bobby and Ellen walked past Sam to the crypt door, both sparing him concerned looks. Melody and Dean stopped just shy of Jake's now lifeless body and watched Sam wipe off a few droplets of blood from his cheek.

She couldn't believe what she had just seen. Sammy…her big softie had been acting like a…well a real killer. Not just someone who has to make the tough decisions to protect himself or his family and friends but someone who had actually enjoyed it. They heard the gears of the crypt door working and then they all clunked and clamped to a halt.

"Oh no." Melody heard Bobby say and she looked at the door with Dean as they heard Ellen ask,

"Bobby what is it?"

"It's hell." Bobby said as the door clanked and more gears rattled. He started to pull Ellen away from the door and Dean reached out and quickly pulled the colt out of its place in the door. The clanking gears got louder and louder and Bobby shouted over the noise, "Take cover now!"

Bobby and Ellen ran off in one direction sliding behind a large tombstone while the Winchesters sprinted away towards their own tombstones. As Melody heard the doors slam open, metal hitting stone loudly a piercing, chilling, hissing noise could be heard and she felt a rush of wind hit her back and she fell over behind a tombstone and buried her head into whoever's shoulder she was next to.

"What the hell just happened?!" she heard Dean shout over the noise as he gripped his sister's shoulder, holding her close as he feared she might get swept away.

"That's a devil's gate," Ellen shouted back, "a damn door to hell!"

"What?!" Melody's eyes widened with fear, "Holy shit…"

Ellen ignored her, "Come on! We gotta shut that gate!" They all stood up at the same time, Bobby, Sam and Ellen all running for the doors. Melody stood still, frozen in fear as she gripped her older brother's arm. Dean stood still as well and then remembered he had the colt. He held it up, checked for the one bullet and saw it was still resting in its place.

"If the demon gave this to Jake…" he began, "then maybe…"

"What? Maybe what?" Melody asked him trying to decide if she should stay with Dean or go help the others shut the door. Honestly she was so confused and terrified she wasn't quite sure what exactly she should be doing. She wanted to help Dean, but she also wanted to help Sam and the others.

Thunder crashed and Melody saw a few flickering spirits rise up out of the doors. That's when she felt the cold, dead, heavy presence behind her. Dean must have felt it too because they both whipped around at the same time to see Yellow Eyes standing just a few feet behind them. Dean raised the colt but the demon held up his hand, pulling the gun out of Dean's grip and into his.

"A boy shouldn't play with daddy's guns." He grinned wickedly and then Dean went flying through the air to land several feet away, knocking his head on a large tombstone in the process. Melody screamed in horror when she heard his skull crack against the stone and saw the blood quickly form on his forehead.

She looked back at the demon and snarled, felt her powers build up and blinked her eyes. They shined bright silver at the demon. "Oh," he seemed to shake his shoulders as if he was giddy, "you're gettin better toots."

Melody snarled and ran at him, throwing out several punches just like her brother's had taught her all those years ago. Yellow Eyes easily avoided the hits, grinning the entire time at her. Melody roared, kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him back a few steps as he was caught off guard for a moment. She took her chance and reached out, gripping his neck in her hand and squeezing. Yellow Eyes bent over and held her hand with his own, chocked and coughed then started laughing manically.

"Close but no cigar!" he said crashing his hands down onto her elbow, making it give out as he pushed her back and raised a hand in the air. Melody rose with his hand, hanging in the air a few feet off the ground, arms at her sides, fists clenched. "You are getting better sweetie…your daddy would be proud—ah…" he held out a finger and closed her mouth shut before she could say anything, "I don't mean John sweetpea…I mean your _real_ daddy."

_What the hell?_ Melody thought, her eyes going wide as she stared down at him feeling her powers completely dissipate. What did he mean her "_real_" dad? What?!

She felt the hold on her mouth release and she grimaced, "Bite me asshole."

Yellow Eyes grinned, "Maybe later." Then she felt herself flying through the air as she was thrown, hard, onto the ground next to a slow rising Dean. Melody grunted, felt a few new scrapes and bruises form on her forearms and stomach and flipped herself around staring up at a slow advancing demon.

"Dean! Melody!" she heard Sam cry as he ran over to them. Yellow Eyes glanced back at him and before Sam could take another step, he was thrown backwards into a tree, held there by the demons power.

"I'll get to you in a minute, champ." He said glancing over his shoulder at Sam, "I'm proud of you—knew you had it in you." Dean and Melody were both slowly rising to their knees and Yellow Eyes glared at them before throwing out his hand. Melody and Dean were both pushed up against a fallen tombstone, the rock digging into their backs as Yellow Eyes grinned, "Sit a spell."

He moved over towards them, "So, Dean…" he kneeled down in front of them and looked at the oldest, "I got to thank you. You see, demons can't resurrect people unless a deal is made. I know, red tape—it'll make you nuts." He rolled his eyes playfully before continuing, "But thanks to you, Sammy's back in rotation. Now, I wasn't counting on that, but I'm glad. I liked him better than Jake anyhow."

Thunder crashed above them as Yellow Eyes continued, "Tell me—have you ever heard the expression, "If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is?"

Dean chuckled despite his pain, "You call that deal good?"

"It's a better shake than your dad ever got," he pointed at Dean, "and you never wondered why? I'm surprised at you. I mean…" he moved closer, "you saw what your brother just did to Jake, right? That was pretty cold wasn't it?"

Yellow Eyes chuckled wickedly, "How certain are you that what you brought back is one-hundred percent pure Sam?" he laughed evilly at Dean and Melody's scared faces. "You of all people should know that what's dead shout stay dead…your sister seems to be the only one who understands that—probably gets it from her father's side—you know Dean, her _real_ father?"

There he goes again with the whole "real father" thing again. Melody stared at him, trying to give him her best "go fuck yourself" glare but he just grinned and patted her knee lightly before standing back up, "Anyway…thanks a bunch. I knew I kept you alive for some reason." He said staring directly at Dean, "Until now anyway. I couldn't have done it without your pathetic, self-loathing, self-destructive desire to sacrifice yourself for your family."

Yellow Eyes held up the colt, and pulled back the hammer. Melody let out a tiny whimper and tried to reach for her brother's hand but she couldn't move, she could barely breathe. This couldn't end this way. She couldn't just watch her brother die right next to her when the last thing she said to him was basically how much she hated him. And she didn't…she loved him. She loved her big, stupid brother. She whimpered again, trying to find the words but was just too weak to say anything…too afraid to have it all come crashing down right at this moment.

That's when she saw it. A flicker and then a translucent spirit come up behind the demon's shoulders and she felt her heart jump. It was their dad! John Winchester's ghost wrapped his arms around the demon and a flash of lighting cracked over the horizon. The man's body fell over onto the ground while John held back the black, smoky form of what Melody could now assume as the real demon.

John fought against the demon, wrestled with it for a long moment before he was thrown backwards. Melody felt the force on her and Dean give way and she quickly reached out and grabbed the colt, handing it to Dean without even thinking. Honestly this was more Dean's kill then hers and she knew how much he wanted and needed it. Melody gripped her brother's arm and buried herself deeper into him as the smoky demon fell back into the limp body on the ground.

Yellow Eyes stood up, stunned for a moment and then froze. Dean Winchester had the colt raised up pointing straight at him, his sister leaning against him, both grimacing as if they were trying to hold back all their fury. Dean watched the demon for another half second…then pulled the trigger.

The gun fired off beautifully, muzzle flashing, metal clinking together as the bullet shot out and embedded itself deep into the demon's heart. Yellow Eyes stared at his wound, stunned then jerked as his whole body crackled and shook. He didn't scream, didn't yell or cry out in agony. The demon simply jerked a few more times and then flopped over on its back…dead.

Sam grunted as he was dropped to the ground but Melody wasn't paying attention to her brothers. She was staring at her father…who was slowly standing up from the ground. "Dad…" she let out a shaking breath and without thinking, ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck.

John caught her, just like he used to, holding the back of her head with one hand and keeping another firm hold on her back. Melody let out a blubbering sob as she buried her face into his shoulder. He smelled just like he used to. Gun powder, leather and pine. Slowly, Melody pulled back from him and saw happy tears forming at the base of her father's eyes. He moved around her, going to Dean and placing a loving, strong hand on the boy's shoulder. Sam stood a few steps away, watching through tear-filled eyes the exchange between his siblings and their father. They all stared at each other, smiling through their tears at their father.

Melody stood next to him, wanting to linger a bit longer before he left and felt John slowly back away. Before he did, he placed a warm, soft kiss to her forehead, smiling down at her in a sort of bittersweet way. Melody backed up until she felt Dean standing next to her, reaching out and gripping his hand. She glanced over, saw her little brother standing just a few steps off and held out her hand. Sam walked over and took it without question, standing right next to her.

John smiled at his children as he came to a stop and bright shining blue light danced around his feet, slowly moving up his legs. He smiled at them one last time as the light completely consumed his body. The Winchester children watched their father's spirit brighten and then flicker and puff away. Melody swallowed the hard lump in her throat and leaned her head onto Sam's arm.

He pulled her in for a hug, letting her cry silently into his jacket as he and Dean shared a long, knowing look. Dad was really gone now. Slowly as they felt their tears dry, they all walked over to inspect the demon's smoking body. Melody still kept her hold on Sam and was grateful that he still kept his arm around her shoulders.

"Well," Dean sighed looking over at his siblings, "check _that_ off the to-do list."

"You did it." Sam said staring at his big brother with wide eyes.

"I didn't do it alone." Dean shook his head glancing between Sam and Melody, knowing that they understood what he was referring to.

Sam clenched his jaw, glanced around the cemetery and then began saying slowly, "Do you think dad really…do you think he really climbed out of hell?"

Melody sniffled and wiped at her eyes, "Well, the door _was_ open."

Dean nodded at her and then stuffed the now empty colt into his jacket, "Yeah, if anyone's stubborn enough to do it…it would be him."

The younger siblings nodded in agreement before Sam asked, "Where do you think he is now?"

"I don't know," Dean answered him honestly and saw Melody shrug her shoulders as if to say the same thing. Sam stared back down at the body,

"I kind of can't believe it, Dean. I mean…our whole lives, everything has been prepping for this and now I…" he chuckled, "I kind of don't know what to say."

Melody tightened her grip on him as Dean stared at his youngest brother, "I do." He turned and kneeled down next to the corpse lying at their feet before saying, "That was for our mom…you son of a bitch."

* * *

Eventually, they made their way back to their cars. Ellen and Bobby lagging behind, as the Winchesters moved for their Impala. Melody had refused to let go of Sam the entire way back, wrapping her arms around one of his, holding onto him tightly. Sam didn't seem to mind, and ruffled her hair affectionately as they walked toward their car. His face got serious then, and he leaned up against the car with Melody next to him, "You know when Jake saw me…it was like he saw a ghost."

Dean, who had been opening up the door to the Impala shut it firmly and leaned up against the side of the car next to Sam as his brother scoffed and continued, "I mean, hell you two heard him. He said he killed me."

Melody shot a warning glare at Dean, but he ignored her and stared out at the dark woods, "I'm glad he was wrong."

"I don't think he was, Dean." Sam said looking at his brother, "What happened…after I was stabbed?"

Dean again ignored the look he got from Melody and said, "I already told you."

"Not everything." Sam stopped him and felt Melody slowly stand up from leaning against the car as the oldest Winchester began saying,

"Sam, we just killed the demon. Can we celebrate for a minute?"

Slow tears began to form in Sam's eyes as he asked both his brother and sister, glancing between them, "Did I die?"

He saw Melody's jaw tighten as she glared over at the oldest who scoffed, "Oh come on."

Sam knew, from the way Melody was shooting daggers at Dean with her eyes and the way she had been lingering around him more than she did with Dean…he knew. And god he wanted the answer to his next question to not be what he feared, "Dean…did you sell your soul for me, like dad did for you?"

"Come on! No!" Dean defended a bit too loudly. Sam stood up straight,

"Tell me the truth." Sam nearly pleaded with his oldest brother, "Dean, tell me the truth."

Dean shook his head, "Sam…"

Melody felt her fists clench, "Don't you lie to him anymore." Sam glanced back at her,

"He…" Sam's voice cracked as he swallowed more and more tears. It couldn't be true, no, no way. But he knew it was when Melody stiffly nodded her head at him, not taking her disappointed, furious glare off of Dean. Sam's voice broke again as he asked, "How long do you get?"

Dean, defeated looked up at Sam, "One year." He said after a long pause, "I got one year."

Sam again fought back his tears, "You shouldn't have done that. How could you do that?"

"Don't get mad at me." Dean begged standing up to his full height, "I'm already barely handling Mels' wrath…but don't _you_ do that. I had to—I had to look out for you. That's my job."

"And what do you think _my_ job is? Or Melody's?"

"What?" Dean asked him, confused.

Sam scoffed, "You've saved our lives—especially mine, over and over. I mean you sacrifice everything for me. Don't you think I'd do the same for you?" Melody had heard enough, she couldn't handle this right now and decided to just pull herself completely out of the conversation, mentally and psychically. She rolled her eyes and walked away a few steps towards the tree line, crossing her arms over her chest and huffed when she could still hear Sam, "You're my big brother. There's _nothing_ I wouldn't do for you. And I don't care what it takes. I'm gonna get you out of this. Guess I gotta save _your_ ass for a change."

Dean gave him a small smile, "Yeah…" then saw their sister standing a few steps off, back towards them, arms crossed and mouth set into a tight line. He started to move towards her but stopped when they heard Ellen and Bobby come out of the tree line,

"Well," Ellen said, "yellow-eyed demon might be dead, but a lot more got through that gate."

"How many, you think?" Melody asked her glancing over her shoulder.

"Hundred…" Sam estimated, "maybe two-hundred. It's an army. He's unleashed an army."

Bobby let out a long, heavy breath, "Hope to hell you kids are ready, cause the war has just begun."

"Well then," Dean grinned moving around toward the trunk. He popped it open and threw the colt into the back, "we got work to do."

* * *

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	22. This Ain't Scooby Doo

**Omgomgomgomgomg! This chapter! Possibly one of my favorite chapters, not my absolute favorite though. Do any of you have a favorite chapter so far? Just curious, I mean for what I have planned ahead there will be a lot more to choose from. And now that we are finally stepping into season 3 territory we are getting closer and closer to season 4 and CASTIEL! I cannot wait for our favorite Winchester sister Melody to meet him, so excited to see these two interact face to face! Bah! I'll stop talking now, enjoy the chapter! Oh and thanks for all the favs and follows! You guys are awesome!**

* * *

_May 8, 2007_

_I hate my brother. Dean to be more specific. Seriously it's not five days after we've killed and gotten rid of that damn demon and he's off being a damn…asshole! Ugh! He kicked us out of the motel room just so he could…sleep with some bimbo! I really am going to shoot him in the foot…no jokes; I really am this time around. He has been acting like a complete…waste of space! He is a waste of my time…I should have just gone with Bobby…at least he'd have been better company._

_And Sam keeps pouring through this book but he and I both know that the answer isn't going to be in there. Well Bobby just called, said something about needing our help. I'm making Sam go in there to get Dean…no way am I scarring myself just to get his ass out of that room. I'd rather not see what Dean is up to…eugh…_

* * *

Melody gripped the edge of the backseat tightly, fingernails digging into the leather as Dean barreled the Impala down the dirt road, hitting a hill and sending the car flying through the air for a half second. The car landed back onto the road, sending its occupants flying upwards towards the roof of the car. Melody groaned and glared at the back of Dean's head but he just smiled widely and pushed the car even harder down the road.

"Let me see your knife." Sam said from his seat looking at Dean.

"What for?"

"So I can gouge my eyes out." Melody knew he was referring to the motel room. Thankfully she had made Sam go inside to get their brother and he had practically ran out of the place, back into the car shaking his head and muttering something along the lines of "dear god why" over and over again.

Dean just grinned at his brother, "It was a beautiful natural act Sam."

Sam rolled his eyes, "It's a part of you I never wanted to see, Dean."

The oldest just chuckled and patted Sam's shoulder, "Hey I appreciate you giving me a little quality time with the doublemint twins."

Twins? Melody's eyebrows scrunched up, she didn't remember there being two girls. Then again she was lying down in the backseat before, keeping her view as far away from the motel window as possible. Sam just shrugged, "Yeah, no problem."

"Really?" Dean asked him then glanced back at his sister, "Well I got to say I was expecting a weary sigh or an eye roll…oh," he stopped when he saw Melody's death glare and smiled at her, "there it is. Love you too Mels."

Melody chewed her bottom lip and crossed her arms over her chest, "Up yours."

Dean grinned then looked back at Sam, "Not you though? Come on not even a head shake?"

Sam just shrugged, "No…not at all from me. You deserve to have a little fun."

"Well, I'm in violent agreement with you there." He said chuckling again as he watched the road, "What's Bobby got?"

"Not much." Sam answered, "Crop failure and a cicada swarm outside of Lincoln. Nebraska. Could be demonic omens…"

"Or could just be a bad crop and a bug problem." Dean shrugged and heard his sister huff in the back,

"It's our only lead, Dean."

He ignored her attitude, knowing full well that if he did pay attention to it, he would snap and get angry with her—probably just as angry as she apparently was with him right now. Dean just wanted to have a good time, hunt a few things, eat a bunch of food and sleep with a bunch of girls. He didn't need or want to deal with his sister's precious emotions right now. He was just not in the mood. Dean held back rolling his eyes at her and asked, "Any freaky deaths?"

Sam had shot his sister a warning glare, trying to tell her to keep it under control. He did not want Dean and Melody to start fighting. They didn't always fight, but when they did it was loud, violent and both their tempers acted up. After giving his sister the "stuff it" look he answered, "Nothing Bobby could find—not yet anyway."

"It's weird man. I mean the night the devil's gate opened; all these weirdo storm clouds were sighted over how many cities?" Dean asked them and heard both his younger siblings answer in perfect unison,

"Seventeen."

Dean nodded, "Seventeen. You think it would be "Apocalypse Now" but it's been five days and bubkes." An eerie silence fell over the group for a half second and then Dean asked, "What are the demons waiting for?"

Melody shrugged and Sam said, "Beats me."

"Yeah it's driving me crazy." Dean agreed, "I tell you, if it's gonna be war, I wish it would just start already."

"I don't know man," Sam said glancing back at his sister who seemed to have the same thing as him on her mind, "be careful what you wish for."

* * *

Melody could literally feel herself getting angrier by the second. Dean had insisted they stop at some drive through place so he could get breakfast._ Yeah, if that's breakfast then I'm the freaking first lady,_ she thought as he pulled the car to a halt in front of a farm house Bobby had led them to. She sighed with relief when she spotted Bobby leaning against the back of his truck. She needed someone as salty as Bobby around right now, he understood why she was so angry and she just wanted to get away from Dean. She could not stand to even look at him at the moment.

The Winchesters stepped out of the car, Melody walking around her brothers to join Bobby, giving him a quick hug. "What's that for?" he asked as she pulled away.

Melody sighed, "I just…I needed a moment away from him. I am seconds away from breaking his legs."

Bobby knew she was talking about Dean and just gave her a firm look but decided not to say anything. Her brothers joined them, cicadas chirping loudly in the background as Dean finished up his "breakfast" with a large bite.

"So," Bobby said looking straight at Dean, "we're eating bacon cheeseburgers for breakfast, are we?"

Dean shrugged and said through his food, "Well, sold my soul. Got a year to live. I ain't sweating the cholesterol."

Sam didn't miss his sister's eye roll or how Dean deliberately did not look at her and he asked, "So Bobby, what do you think? We got a biblical plague here or what?"

"Well, let's find out." Bobby said beginning to lead the Winchesters towards the house, "Looks like the swarm's ground zero." They all walked up to the door and Dean pounded his fist against it. Melody stood next to Sam as they both kept an eye on the perimeter of the house, Bobby stood behind Dean making sure to be his backup should they run into immediate danger.

"Candygram!" Dean yelled and waited. They got no answer. They all shared a wary look then pulled out their pistols as Dean bent down and began picking the lock of the door. He opened it slowly, wood creaking and immediately all four of the hunters covered their mouths, coughing and gaging. The smell that hit their noses was bracing. Death, that's the only way Melody could describe the smell…just death.

"That's awful," Sam said grimacing as he glanced over to see his sister covering her mouth and nose. Dean swallowed a gag as he said,

"That _so_ can't be a good sign." Bobby moved around checking the back of the house while Melody stayed behind her brothers and they moved closer towards the front. They could still hear the cicada's chirping and hissing outside and as they moved further and further into the house, the smell of death only got stronger.

Melody and her brothers whipped around a corner, only to find nothing. Huffing, Melody walked past Sam into the next room and froze; she could have sworn she heard somebody scream. She glanced back at her younger brother and saw that he had heard it too. Dean came to a slow stop next to Sam and heard his sister ask, "You guys hear that?"

The yelps and screams were coming from the room just beyond the door a few steps in front of them. Dean leaned up against one side of the door, Sam and Melody on the other. Without words, Dean threw open the door and all three burst through, guns at the ready.

The smell was almost overwhelming now. Dean buried his face into the sleeve of his jacket while Melody gagged and covered her mouth. Several moans of disgust came out of their mouths when they saw the source of the smell. The entire family, mother, father and child were all sitting on the couch with the television playing.

Melody walked around the couch and winced. The entire family was in a terrible state of decay, flies buzzing around the room. "Oh my god…" Sam grimaced staring down at the sunken in, lifeless, colorless bodies on the couch. Bobby came around the corner and stopped in his tracks when he saw the bodies and smelled them.

Sam looked away from the bodies at the mechanic, "Bobby, what the hell happened here?"

"I don't know." Bobby said and Dean glanced around the room,

"Check for sulfur." All four started checking the edges of the walls and all around the bodies. Melody walked around to the windows near her older brother. She glanced back at him, both trying to figure out what could have killed this family but froze when they heard the wood of the porch outside creek and a pair of shadows fall across the windows. Dean glanced back at Bobby and Sam, whistling and giving them the signal saying that he and Melody would check out the noise outside and telling the others to go around the front so they could cut off whoever was outside.

Bobby and Sam walked off toward the front. Dean led his sister to the door nearest them, slowly pulling it open and sticking his head out. They walked out onto the large wrap-around porch, guns out and at the ready. Melody was about to tell him that he must have been hearing things as she walked ahead of him. She turned around only to jump back when she saw her brother get smashed in the stomach with the butt of a shotgun.

Dean's attacker hit him once in the stomach and as Dean bent over he hit him again in the jaw, sending Dean flying backwards to land on his back. Melody cried out, "Hey!" getting the attacker's attention. He had a darker complexion, and was about the same height as Dean, but she knew she could easily take him out. The man glanced up at her only to feel the sole of Melody's boot get thrown into his own stomach.

Melody grinned as the man fell back a few steps but he recovered quickly and threw out his shotgun intending to hit Melody across the cheek. She easily avoided it, ducking down and straightening back up sending a heavy right hook into his own jaw. As he was distracted, Melody grabbed the shotgun from his hands, flipped it around and cocked it pointing directly at the man's head. However as she was pulling the shotgun from him, he had anticipated it and had whipped out his own pistol aiming right for her head as well.

Dean groaned behind his sister, still on the floorboards of the porch recovering from the hard hit. Melody ignored him and stared hard at the man and his companion, a pretty young woman of the same dark complexion came up behind him. She glared at them both, "Don't even think about it—"

"Isaac? Tamara?" Bobby came up behind them. Melody, recognizing that Bobby knew these two lowered the shotgun and begrudgingly handed it back to who she now knew was Isaac.

The woman-Tamara-smiled at Bobby and said in a soft British accent, "Bobby, what the hell are you doing here?"

Bobby smiled at them, "I could as the same."

Isaac rested his shotgun against his shoulder, "Heya Bobby." The men shook hands, laughing wholeheartedly. Melody smiled at the friendly exchange but felt it fall when she heard Dean groan and hold up a hand, waving it in the air at them,

"Hello, bleeding here." Melody rolled her eyes and stepped over him, not before "accidently" knocking the toe of her boot into his ribs. Dean grunted, held his side and shot her a warning glare as she pulled him up off the ground. Melody ignored him and walked past him back into the house, not before knocking her shoulder into his though.

Dean sighed, gave Bobby and his friends a quick, "Excuse me," and followed after his sister. Before Melody could escape back into the house, he gripped her upper arm tightly and pulled her away and down the porch steps. Ignoring her protests he pulled her further and further, until they were at the far side of the house, next to an old, run-down shed.

"Alright. Stop." Dean demanded holding out his hands, "Stop treating me like this."

Melody rolled her eyes, "What? You mean like you deserve to be treated?"

"I already feel guilty enough Mels!" he roared, all of his bottled up frustrations bursting out as his temper slowly rose, "I don't need you reminding me every second of how angry you are alright?"

"No you need to be reminded, because-apparently-you've completely forgotten what you're doing to this shit excuse for a family!"

Dean stared at her, hurt and confused, "Mels what are you talking about?"

"You don't see it?" she asked him, sounding like she was almost surprised at him. Melody threw out her arms, "Come on Dean take a closer look. I mean, I can hardly stand being around you anymore. And you expect me and Sam to just pal around with you while you live it up? Are you really that selfish?"

"I don't…" he glanced down at his shoes, rubbing his forehead as an oncoming headache pounded behind his skull, "I don't know what you want me to say anymore."

"Tell me you're sorry! Tell me that you were acting like a child and that you shouldn't have locked me in that damn bathroom while you ran off and _left me_!" She emphasized her last two words with a hard shove to her brother's shoulders. Dean fell back a few steps before catching himself,

"Mels…"

"_Don't_…call me that…_anymore_!" she screamed shoving him again. Melody stopped, huffed loudly and kept her fists at her sides staring up at him and said quietly, "I'm done."

"What?"

"I'm done!" she yelled throwing up her hands in defeat, "After this job I'm leaving—I can't be around you anymore." She made to walk around him but Dean grabbed her shoulders forcing her to stay in place,

"Melody stop!" he begged, "Please just…just calm down. Tell me what I can do, tell me what you need and I'll do it but please don't leave. Please Melody I need you."

"I needed you when Sam was dead," her voice quivered and she shook off his hold. "Guess I'm just going to carry on with the Winchester family tradition…run away."

"Melody no please—"

"Just…" she waved her hands around squeezing her eyes shut and stopping him. Melody rested her hands on her hips and looked down at the dirt, "just let me finish up this last job with you. And I'll see how things go."

Dean took that as her way of saying that she would stay and let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you Melody. Please just give it a chance alright?"

"Yeah." She agreed nodding her head vigorously. Melody looked at him then and literally had to bite her cheek to hold back the grimace. She knew what she was doing, knew her exact plan even as her brother stared at her with a glint of hope in his eyes. Melody let out a long, slow breath and then completely surprised Dean when she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his stomach, resting her head on his chest.

He didn't hesitate and quickly returned the gesture, holding her like every Winchester man seemed to. One hand behind her head, the other placed firmly on her upper back. "I'm sorry Melody…for everything." Dean said quietly, kissing the top of her hair softly.

Melody's eyes stayed open and she stared off into the tree line, again having to bite down on her cheek as she said, "Yeah…me too."

* * *

Later that same night, Isaac and Tamara had allowed the Winchesters and Bobby into their home with a warm welcome. Melody stood next to Sam, admiring the hunters' collection of various supernatural items while Bobby glanced around the house and let out a slow, appreciative whistle, "Isaac you sure got some nice digs here."

Melody could hear Dean talking on the phone in the room next to them and clenched her jaw. Just for the rest of this job…then you're out, she reminded herself. Isaac smiled warmly at Bobby and then started shuffling through his collection. He stood up and looked around the room asking,

"Honey…where's the Palo Santo?"

Tamara glanced up from her spot and said gently, "Well, where'd you leave it?"

"I don't know dear. That's why I'm asking." Isaac sounded like he was growing impatient with her, but Melody could still hear the tone of affection in his voice.

"Palo Santo?" Sam asked and Tamara answered,

"It's holy wood from Peru. It's toxic to demons like holy water." She walked over to a drawer set and continued, "Keeps the bastards nailed down while you're exorcising them."

A triumphant grin came across her features as she held up a large wooden stake for her husband. Isaac smiled and took the stake from her, "Thank you, dear."

"You'd lose your head if it wasn't for me." Tamara smirked at him. Melody couldn't help but smile at them. Isaac and Tamara were obviously in love, and Melody thought they were really lucky to have found each other in the type of world they all lived in.

Sam smiled too and crossed his arms over his chest before he asked, "So, how long you two been married?"

"Eight years this past June." Tamara answered and Melody chuckled,

"That's great. Congratulations you two."

Isaac grinned and reached over, kissing his wife's cheek he said, "The family that slays together…"

"Right. I'm with you there." Sam laughed then inquired, "So, how'd you get started?"

Melody fought the urge to face-palm. Sam of all people should know that most hunters got their start because of a tragedy. Their family got started because their mother was murdered by a demon, Bobby got started because a demon possessed his wife…it would be no surprise that these new hunters they had just met got started under the same circumstances.

"Oh you know…" Sam began, realizing he had hit on a touchy subject, "I'm sorry. It's not—that's none of my business."

"No, no." Tamara stopped him gently, "It's—it's alright."

Dean came into the room then, finishing up his phone conversation rather loudly saying, "Well Jenny, if you look as pretty as you sound, then I'd _love_ to have a…appletini." He grimaced and then quickly said, "Yeah. Call you."

He hung up the phone a half second after that, face showing his pure annoyance with the conversation as he gave the group his information, "That was the coroner's tech."

"And?" Sam probed for more. Dean stuffed his phone into his pocket,

"Get this…that whole family, cause of death—dehydration and starvation. There's no signs of restraint, no violence, no struggle. They just sat down and never got up."

Bobby's brow scrunched up in confusion, "But there was a fully stocked kitchen just yards away."

"What is this, a demon attack?" Melody asked him. Bobby just shrugged,

"If it is, it's not like anything I ever saw, and I've seen plenty."

"Well, what now? What should we do?" Dean asked the group.

"Uh…" Isaac stopped everyone, getting the whole room's attention, "_we're_ not gonna do anything."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked him. Isaac just shook his head,

"You guys seem nice enough, but this ain't "Scooby-Doo" and we don't play well with others."

Melody crossed her arms over her chest, "I don't play well with assholes." She grumbled but Sam stopped her holding out a hand and quickly covered what she was saying,

"I think we'd cover a lot more ground if we all worked together."

"No offense, but we're not teaming with the damn fools who let the devil's gate get open in the first place." Isaac replied, not missing what Melody had said to him. She was obviously having a bad day.

"No offense?" Dean's brow rose up, obviously slightly offended.

Tamara looked at her husband, "Isaac, like you've never made a mistake."

"Yeah," he nodded, "locked my keys in the car, turned my laundry pink. Never brought on the end of the world, though."

Melody scoffed while Dean chuckled sarcastically, "Alright. That's enough." Sam however, was trying to keep the peace,

"Mel, guys this isn't helping—Dean…"

"Look," Isaac said still ignoring the fact that Melody and Dean were both getting more and more irritated, "there are a couple hundred more demons out there now. We don't know where they are, when they're strike. There ain't enough hunters in the world, to handle something like this. You brought war down on us—on _all_ of us."

Melody clenched her fists but held back saying anything. She knew she would just make it worse, and luckily Tamara stepped in as peacemaker, "Okay. That's quite enough testosterone for now." She took her husband's hand and pulled him off towards their own room obviously leaving the others to find sleeping spots on their own.

Eventually, as the noise from Isaac and Tamara's room died down and their light turned off, the other hunters laid down to sleep. Before she let her eyes drift shut, Melody stood from her place on the floor and slowly walked out of the front door. The cool night air hit her face, giving her a calming sense of relief. The house was stuffy and the tension was thick in the air. She hadn't really spoken to Dean after their argument earlier that day, and she had been sticking close to Sam.

Sighing, she leaned against the railing of the porch hoping to clear her mind and give herself some sense of peace. However it was short lived when she felt the air grow heavy and thick. That wasn't normal…and the only time she had ever felt the air grow thick was when she was around…demons.

Melody popped open her eyes and flicked them around the grassy front yard. She saw nothing, but she knew someone was there. She could feel them watching her. Melody slowly descended the porch steps. She knew it was stupid for her to be investigating a possible demonic presence on her own, but she was curious…and she couldn't help herself. Her boots hit the grass, the wind picked up blowing her hair all around her face. Melody moved her eyes everywhere, looking for anything.

Nothing. Sighing, Melody turned around to go back inside. "How did you know I was here?"

Melody whipped around, pulling out her pistol and pointed it straight at the demon's head. This demon was in the body of a pretty young blonde girl, and was about the same height as her. Melody realized then that she had pretty much nothing to fight a demon with, and then she remembered…her powers!

She blinked, felt the wrath boil up and out from her stomach and stared at the demon, "I can feel you…you make the whole air feel wrong."

The demon flinched back a bit, surprised at seeing the hunter's bright, luminescent silver eyes. "Wow…so it's true."

Melody snarled, "What's true?"

"You really are a nephilim—"

"Tell me your name," Melody quickly demanded not lowering her gun, keeping it aimed right between the demon's eyes. The demon girl smirked,

"Ruby. And you're the infamous Melody Winchester…it's a pleasure."

"Yeah, I'm real charmed. What do you want?" Melody demanded, taking notice that the demon hadn't outright attacked her or threatened her. Ruby smirked again and crossed her arms casually,

"Honestly I was just keeping watch on the place. You weren't supposed to be able to sense me. Guess you get that from your father then—you know, you're real father."

Melody snarled and pulled back the hammer on her pistol, "Stow that whole "real father" bullshit. Yellow Eyes tried using it to psych me out but it didn't work, nice try though."

"Wait…you don't know?" Ruby asked slowly uncrossing her arms, staring at the hunter curiously she said, "Wow. You really don't."

"What don't I know?" Melody couldn't help but become curious. Sure she knew she was a "nephilim" but she had no idea what the meant. They had all been so busy with the whole 'let's kill Yellow Eyes' adventure that she had completely forgotten to do any further research on the subject.

"Not sure if you'd want to hear it from me. Do you even know what nephilim are?"

Melody snarled again, eyes flashing brighter for a split second as she took a half step forward, "I wouldn't believe anything that came out of your diseased mouth Ruby," she said the demon's name venomously then scrunched up her nose in slight disgust, "you even smell wrong."

"Well besides being offended I'm actually a little surprised." Ruby said watching Melody carefully, "Your powers are a lot stronger than I thought they'd be. Most nephilim only get tingles around us—"

"What the _hell_ are you talking about?" Melody demanded, voice rising in slight desperation. She hated to admit it, but this demon chick had raised her curiosity.

Ruby went silent for a second then said gently, "You might want to sit down for this." When Melody did not move, Ruby just shrugged and said, "Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you." She paused, watched the hunter for a long couple of seconds then finally said slowly, "Nephilim…are the offspring of a human and…and angel."

Melody froze and blinked several times, feeling all her rage wash away being replaced by silent fear. She couldn't…no. No this demon chick was lying. She had to be. Demons lied all the time, so why would a demon tell her the truth—especially one as huge as this. Melody snarled and aimed her pistol at the girl again before saying, "Get out of here. If you want a fight, come back tomorrow. We'll give you the last fight of your miserable life."

Ruby smirked, "I'm not here to fight you or your family. I—" she stopped mid-sentence and glanced behind her, shoulders going tense. Melody felt it too…the air was growing thicker and she felt a cold chill run up her arms. Ruby looked back at her, "Get inside the house. Lock the doors, salt everything."

The demon turned to leave but heard Melody call to her, "What the hell are you talking about? What's out there?"

"Look," Ruby whirled around and pointed at the house, "I can't explain right now. Just think of me as bait alright?"

Before Melody could say anything else, the demon turned and sprinted off into the trees. Melody slowly walked back up into the house, opening the door and shutting it quietly. Luckily, the others hadn't woken up and Melody gently laid back down into her little pile of blankets. As she tried to sleep, she couldn't help but think back to what the demon had told her. She was not the daughter of an…angel. No way could that be possible. But…as sleep finally overcame her, Melody couldn't help but realize that it was the god-awful truth.

* * *

Melody gasped and sat up straight. Her head was pounding and her ears were ringing slightly. Glancing around she found herself in a…beach house? The walls were painted a light, pale blue. Sea shells and other various beach themed nick-knacks decorated the walls and shelves. She could hear seagulls chirping outside and the sound of waves crashing against the shore.

"Where the hell am I?" she said out loud, slowly getting up from the floor. The wood boards creaked under her weight as she walked outside through the open screen door. It was beautiful wherever she was. Crisp blue waters, bright white sands, perfect warm sun. Everything she had ever dreamed of. Wait…

"Oh…you've got to be kidding." Melody groaned realizing then that she was dreaming. Great…just—

"Hello Melody." She whipped around, only to find a tall, young man standing just behind her. He had dark hair, a long thin face and the biggest green eyes she had ever seen. That's when she recognized him.

"Dad…?" he just smiled at her as Melody stared hard at him, "What the…no you're…you're young, why am I dreaming about the young you I've only seen this version of you like three times and only then in pictures."

He smiled, "That's because this is the only form I can take."

"What do you mean?" Melody asked, breathing heavily. Something wasn't right…something was just not right.

Slowly, he walked up to her and Melody could only freeze in place, afraid of what he might do should she move. Gently he picked up a lock of her golden hair, and then completely surprised her when he pulled her in for a warm hug. Melody wasn't sure what to do at first then decided that this was just a dream, and maybe this was the only way her dad could visit her. She let out a shaking breath, and slowly wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder.

Melody felt him press a hand to the back of her hair, hold her upper back with the other and gently kiss the top of her head. It was just like…wait. Melody took in a deep breath and felt her shoulders tense up. He didn't smell right. Normally, her father always smelled of gunpowder, leather and pine. But now…now she smelled a thousand different things. She smelled flowers first, then rain and dry grass and then the ocean and lavender and the distinct, crisp scent of an early morning. She smelled fresh laundry and baby powder, citrus and sweet chocolates. Then lastly she got the distinct whiff of…bread. Baking bread in an oven, warm, nutty…soft.

But that was never what her dad smelled like. Ever. Melody pulled back from him getting a surprised stare from the young man, "Sweetheart what's wrong?"

"You're not him," Melody said shaking her head stepping out of his hold, "you aren't John Winchester."

He grinned, "Of course not Melody." The young man walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them gently he said, "I am your real father."

She shook his hands off her and backed up a few more steps, "No you're not. Who the hell are you?!" Melody demanded, clenching her fists preparing to fight him should she need to.

"Melody," the young man said gently, "listen very carefully. What the demon girl told you is true. You are a nephilim, the offspring of a human and an angel."

"What?" she breathed through her mouth but he just continued,

"You are the daughter of Mary Winchester and…me."

She watched as he gestured to himself. Melody shook her head, "Then…what no. No that's not right. You can't be an angel I mean…you don't have wings and the halo and all the fancy robes."

"I know this isn't the traditional form you would expect. However my true form is too frightening for you, so I chose this one. I had hoped it would make things easier for you."

"Nice try. Who the hell are you?" she asked again taking another half step backwards. She watched the young John Winchester sigh,

"I didn't want to outright tell you. You're powers were not even supposed to manifest until I came to you. But it seems the appearance of Azazel might have stirred things up—"

"Shut up!" Melody cried, "Shut up about that I don't care about that just…just tell me who you are."

He didn't seem offended by her outburst and folded his hands in front of him. "My name…is Michael."

Melody watched him; it seemed like such a simple name for a supposed "angel". Honestly she expected something grandiose or…well, heavenly. So instead she just smirked, "Really? That's it? Tha…" she trailed off remembering now. Remembering that name and why it was so important. She looked back up at him and shook her head, "No. No that's not possible."

The young man or Michael just grinned, "I know it can be shocking. But I speak the truth Melody. You are my daughter."

She just could not believe it. It was not true. Melody gripped her hair, the headache pounding at full force, "No! No you're lying! It's just a dream…this is just a dream!"

Michael stepped towards her, concern written on his features, "Melody please I know this is difficult to understand but—"

_"Mels!"_

They both looked around, Dean's voice echoed from somewhere far away calling to her. Melody paused, stared at Michael for a minute the turned and bolted away from the beach house. She didn't know why she was running, wasn't even sure if it would help but she just had to get away, she just needed to get out.

_"Melody!"_

"Dean!" she cried, feeling a few tears fall down her cheeks. She kept running, pumping her legs and pushing against the sand. "Dean! Help!" Melody screamed, she could feel the force of Michael coming up behind her. And it seemed no matter how fast she ran, she could never get away. She glanced back, saw a bright ball of golden light racing towards her and let out a loud, terrified screech. He was right there…she could feel him reaching out for her, his fingers touching the tops of her shoulders…

* * *

"Mels! Melody wake up!" Dean shook his sister as she thrashed and screamed in her sleep. Finally her eyes popped open, staring around at him and the room they were in. She was gasping for air, like she had just run a marathon. After several tense seconds, she seemed to recognize her brother and let out a loud sob. Reaching up she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder she cried,

"He was there! He almost had me!"

Dean was frightened, he had never seen his sister have a nightmare like that, let alone hear her cry like this. Unsure of what to do or say, Dean just hugged her tightly and rubbed her back as her shoulders quaked with more and more sobs.

"I…I'm not leaving." Melody said pulling back to look up at her brother. He gave her a confused look and she sniffled before explaining, "I w-was going to…to sneak away after the job. I…I was going to run away but…but I don't want him to find me again. Please Dean don't let him find me."

Sam had come into the room then having been woken up by his sister's screams. He saw Dean kneeling on the floor next to their sister's makeshift bed, holding her as she cried loudly. "Melody?" he said gently, kneeling down next to her.

She looked over, saw her little brother and cried again, this time letting go of Dean and throwing herself at Sam. She buried her face into the front of his shirt, "Don't let him get me. Please you two have to…you have to help me. I'm not leaving, I won't ever leave."

Dean and Sam shared a scared, worried glance as the youngest held his sister to him. Neither of them had seen her like this…ever. Sure most things scared her, but they'd never seen her breakdown into sobs just because of something she feared. "We…we won't let him get you Melody." Sam said rubbing her back in a similar way that Dean had been doing.

Melody just squeezed her eyes shut, trying to wipe away the pure terror she felt. She shouldn't be afraid, Michael was a freaking archangel, he should be benevolent. But the way he had chased her…the absolute fury she had felt when he was reaching for her was undeniable. And it was something and someone she never—_ever_ wanted to see ever again.

* * *

_Whaaaaaaa? Ruby AND Michael? And now we know that he is Melody's real father? Btw I was going to just have Melody run away buuut...the story just went this way and Melody ended up wanting to stay. I mean who can blame her right? I'd stay if I had a scary ass dream like that too! _

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	23. The Magnificent Seven

**:) Can I just say that my reviewers are amazing? You are all so awesome! Love you all so much! You keep me going!**

**Not much in the way of "Winchesterfeels" in this chapter but there is certainly some action and good old fashioned demon exorcising. I went through like four different versions of the beginning of this chapter...hope it came out alright... Welp that's all for now, enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody**

Bobby let out a long, drawn out yawn from the front seat of his car. Glancing around, he saw that everyone else in the car felt pretty much the exact same. He kept his eyes on Melody the longest though. After her violent wake up and obviously terrifying nightmare, she had barely said a word to anyone. They had even taken her to a diner, bought the kid her favorite breakfast—French toast and hot chocolate—to try and cheer her up but she still wouldn't say anything about her dream.

Melody just refused, she would say "no I'm not talking about it" to Bobby and then to her brothers she would grumble something along the lines of "up yours" or "not in the mood"…maybe a mixture of both. Whatever it was she had dreamt about obviously affected her. Even when Dean had tried being a bit more on the jokester side earlier when they were investigating the crime scene, Melody hadn't even sniggered.

Now they had tailed the guy they saw on the department store surveillance footage. They figured he probably had something to do with one woman attacking and killing another woman for no other reason except to get the shoes that she wanted. Dean had followed the guy to a rickety bar downtown and now they were waiting for their next move.

"What time is it?" Bobby asked the oldest Winchester. Dean lifted up his left wrist, stretching his legs in the passenger seat he answered,

"Seven past midnight."

"You sure this is the right place?" Melody asked getting down to business. That was one thing Bobby could admire about the Winchesters, they were always able to put aside their troubles for the good of the mission…now afterwards…well. The Winchesters weren't too keen on _feelings_.

"No," Dean grumbled, "but I spent all day canvassing this stupid town with this guy's stupid mug, and supposedly he drinks at this stupid bar—whoa!"

Bobby and Dean jumped up in their seats; Sam had run up to the car banging on the window, grinning like an idiot. Melody sighed, her heart stammering, "Dammit Sam…"

The youngest giggled at his prank and opened up Dean's door as the oldest shook himself, "That's not funny!"

"Yeah," Sam grunted reaching back and throwing up his brother's seat causing Dean to nearly face plant with the dashboard. Melody couldn't help but grin and reach out her hands pushing against her older brother's seat to "help" Sam into the back. Dean grunted in frustration as his seat was finally set back into place. "Uh alright so," Sam got down to business giving his sister a triumphant grin beforehand, "John Doe's name is Walter Rosen. He's from Oak Park, just west of Chicago. Went missing about a week ago."

"The night the devil's gate opened?" Melody asked him and got a confirming nod from Sam,

"Yup."

Melody glanced at the bar, "So you think he's possessed?"

"It's a good bet." Dean added turning half way in his seat to watch his siblings.

The youngest chewed his lip before saying, "So, what he just walks up to someone, touches them, and they go stark raving psycho?"

Bobby let out a small breath, "Those demons that got out at the gate—they're gonna be able to do all kinds of things we haven't seen."

"You mean the demons we let out?" Sam restated, getting a weird look from Bobby and a solid but light slap on the arm from his sister. She hated thinking that it was all their fault because it most certainly was not.

"Guys." Dean got their attention and everyone followed where his eyes were looking. Walter Rosen had pulled up into the parking lot and was walking into the bar briskly. "Alright…showtime."

Melody began to move to leave but Bobby's voice stopped her, "Wait a minute." Both Dean and Melody stared at him,

"What?" they asked together, both seeming anxious but Bobby just snapped his head at them both and said with more than a little salt in his tone,

"What did I just say? We don't know what to expect out of this guy. We should tail him till we know for sure."

Dean threw out a hand staring after the retreating form of Walter, "Oh, so he kills someone and we just sit here with our junk in our hands?"

"We're no good dead!" Bobby said in a slightly biting tone. He took a breath, making sure he got a nod of understanding from Melody and continued, "And we're not gonna make a move until we know what the score is."

"Hey, Bobby," Sam got his attention and pointed out the front window, "I don't think that's an option."

They all followed where he was pointing and saw Isaac and Tamara getting out of their car, slowly walking toward the bar. Melody huffed; of course they would do something stupid. Bobby smacked his steering wheel and grumbled, "_Balls_!"

Sam sat back in his seat, "So…what now we wait and see what happens?" Nobody answered him, since they had all decided that yes that is exactly what they were going to do. No point barging in now and blowing Isaac and Tamara's cover. About ten minutes passed with no incident, Dean was about to start protesting and go inside but stopped when he heard his sister lean up and train her eyes on the bar.

"What's up Mels?" he asked her but she didn't look away from the bar. She breathed in deeply through her nose and asked,

"Can you roll down your window please? Bobby could you too?" They both did, figuring that maybe she just was beginning to feel cooped up and needed the fresh air. However, Melody did something completely opposite. She turned her nose towards Bobby's window—still keeping her eyes fixed on the bar—and then turned her nose towards Dean's window.

"Melody what are you doing?" Sam asked from the back seat watching her closely. Melody didn't answer right away, just stared at the bar intently. She watched the doors closely then her eyes went wide and she gasped,

"We have to get in there."

"What? Mels what are you—"

"Isaac and Tamara are in trouble Dean!" she exclaimed gripping his shoulder and staring at him, "There are demons in there with them! A lot of demons…too many for those two to handle on their own—" Melody snapped her head back towards the bar and cursed under her breath reaching around Dean and throwing open the door she climbed over the front seat and barreled her way through her brother out the door.

"Melody!" Dean called after her. She didn't stop, just kept sprinting through the parking lot towards the front door and yelled back over her shoulder,

"Trust me! They need our help!" Melody ran up to the door and gave it a good shake. The wood just creaked and refused to open up for her. "Shit!" she screamed throwing her shoulder into the wood as she felt the thick, heavy air wafting through to her. She was right, she knew she had smelled and felt the damn demons. Melody couldn't quite pin-point how many were inside, but there was certainly more than one.

Thankfully, Dean had enough faith in her to trust in his sister when she acted this way and had run up to join her. Bobby was with him and all three pounded on the door trying to get through. "Dammit…" Bobby grumbled then started pulling the Winchesters away, "Get back into the car, we're gonna have to ram it!"

They got back to the car in record time; Melody threw herself into the front not bothering to climb into the back with Sam. "Get the holy water!" she shouted as Bobby turned the engine over and pulled the car around. Sam passed up two large jugs of holy water as the car was thrown into reverse and Bobby stomped his foot on the gas pedal.

The tires screeched and the engine roared to life and before Melody could make any second guesses, the car crashed through the wooden doors. Bobby was the first to step out of the car, throwing out his own jug of holy water; splashing the demons and hearing them sizzle and burn in agony. Melody came next sending back the demons even further and then Sam came up behind her tossing a good portion of his own holy water at them.

Tamara was standing over a lifeless Isaac and tried to reach for him but Sam stopped her, pulling her back towards the car, "Come on, we got to go! He's dead!"

The group of demons was coming back as Sam struggled to get Tamara into the car. Bobby and Melody both showered the demons with holy water again. "Bobby go!" Melody shouted, tossing out more and more holy water.

The mechanic reluctantly got back into the driver's seat. Melody moved over towards her brother, already figuring out what he wanted to do when she saw him lingering. "Dean! Melody! Come on!" Sam yelled at them, holding back a still hysterical Tamara.

The demon they had been tracking all day, Walter, was slowly moving towards them. Melody backed up in front of her brother, keeping a hand in front of him and throwing out her arm tossing more and more holy water onto the demon. Dean did the same, pulling his sister backwards and then quickly opening up the trunk of the car.

The siblings tossed out their bottles and both froze, realizing then that they had unfortunately run out of the precious water. Walter stared up at them and laughed mockingly before bending down and staring up at Melody with his black orbs.

Now was their chance. Melody powered up, eyes going luminescent and growled at the demon, challenging him. He sneered at her and moved to attack, but Melody blocked him easily. She grabbed one wrist as it shot out to hit her and pulled down the arm. Walter countered, throwing out his other wrist but Melody repeated her move and caught his arm, pulling down and crossing his arms over his chest. She head-butted him, kicked out her foot sending the toe of her boot directly into his shin and then used his momentum to flip him over.

Walter landed into the trunk with a solid thud, slightly dazed from getting hit in the head but screamed in terror when he looked up and saw a messily drawn devil's trap on the interior of the trunks lid. Dean threw his empty bottle into the trunk and shut it, grabbing his sister's hand and pulling her around to the passenger side. He practically threw her in the front seat as he fell down on top of her shouting, "Go, go, go, go!" at the top of his lungs to Bobby.

Melody leaned up, hearing the tires screech as Bobby peeled out of the parking lot and away from the bar. Tamara still sobbed uncontrollably in the back seat, though her shouting protests had calmed down. Dean glanced at his sister, having seen her entire display of fighting skills and saw that her eyes were still all…glowy.

"Uh…Mels you're uh…" he made a hand gesture at his eyes and then pointed at her. Melody got a look of confusion for a half second, pulled down the vanity mirror and sighed,

"Right uh…" she closed her eyes took in a deep breath and when she opened them again, Dean was looking at the sandy brown, light green hazel that he knew was his baby sister's. "Sorry about that." She mumbled sitting back in her seat and hearing Tamara pant from the back,

"What the hell was that?"

Melody glanced over her shoulder at the woman, "Long story."

* * *

"And I say we're going back—now!" Tamara protested. They had gone back to the house, carried a struggling and fighting demon into the home and strapped him to a chair underneath a large devil's trap. Sam held out a hand towards Tamara,

"Hold on a second—"

She would not hear it and shook her hands in the air, "I let my husband _bloody_ on the floor!"

"Tamara!" Melody raised her voice getting frustrated with the hunter, "We understand that, but we _cannot_ go back."

"Fine," she said, "then you stay. But I'm heading back to that bar."

"I'll go with her." Dean said walking around and starting to pull to hunter out with him. Sam and Melody both shared equally shocked looks as Sam shouted at his brother's back,

"It's suicide, Dean!"

"So what? I'm dead already!"

Melody let out an exasperated sigh and threw back her head before boring her eyes down on her brother as Sam growled out, "How you gonna kill em? You can't shoot them…you can't stab them!"

"Yeah and they are most certainly not gonna wait in line for you to fucking exorcise them!" Melody yelled at her older brother but Tamara ignored her and screamed,

"I don't care!"

Melody turned her piercing glare towards Tamara and shouted back, "Dammit we don't even know how many there are!"

"Yeah we do." Bobby's calm voice cut through the shouts as he walked up to stand between the youngest Winchesters with a book in his arms, "There's seven. Do you have any idea who we're up against?"

Dean's eyes went wide in mock curiosity, "No…who?"

Seven? Melody thought and then…then it hit her. "Oh great…" she grumbled pinching the bridge of her nose as Bobby confirmed what she was afraid of hearing,

"The seven deadly sins, live and in the flesh!"

Dean stared at him for a moment and then chuckled before saying, " "What's in the box?!" "

Melody couldn't fight back the blubbering laughter that came out of her mouth. It was pretty damn funny. Everyone else however was staring at them with dead, confused eyes. Melody looked at them and grinned, "Come on…"Se7en" anyone?"

"No…?" Dean tried getting the others to recognize the reference like his sister had but they didn't and he just nodded, "Okay…"

Bobby gave them both a stern look before slamming his book shut with a loud thud and throwing it at Dean—the instigator—who caught it messily in his arms. "What's this?" he asked stared down at the cover.

" "Binsfeld's Classification of Demons". In 1589, Binsfeld I.D'd the seven sins—not just as human vices but as actual devils." Bobby explained to the group.

"The family…" Sam said glancing at his sister who stared at him for a half second then she let out a shaking breath as she said,

"Sloth. They were touched by Sloth."

Sam nodded in agreement, "And the shopper…"

"That's Envy's doing," Bobby answered and then pointed over his shoulder, "the customer we got in the next room. I couldn't suss it out at first until Isaac."

Melody moved her eyes around the group, "Gluttony."

Bobby agreed, "He was touched with and awful gluttony—"

"I don't give a rat's ass if they're The Three Stooges or The Four Tops!" Tamara screamed, sneering at both Melody and Bobby. "I'm gonna slaughter every last one of them!"

"We already did it _your_ way." Bobby growled at her, stepping up to Tamara showing his full irritation with her, "You burst in there half-cocked and look what happened! These demons haven't been topside in half a millennium! We're talking Medieval, Dark Ages! We've never faced anything close to this! So we are gonna take a breath…" his voice got eerily calm before he shouted at the tops of his lungs, "and figure out what our next move is!"

Tamara stared at him with fire in her eyes as Bobby said in a forcefully calm voice, "I am sorry for your loss." Before any of the Winchesters could say anything from their point of view, both Bobby and Tamara walked off into the next room where they were keeping Walter or rather…Envy.

As Bobby came through the door he heard the demon chuckle, "So you know who I am huh?"

"We do. We're not impressed." Bobby answered him as Tamara came around the corner and fumed at the demon silently. Sam came in next followed by his siblings as he asked the demon,

"Why are you here? What are you after?"

Envy didn't answer, just stared up at them. Dean walked around his brother followed by Melody and set down the large book onto a table with a solid thud, "He asked you a question."

"What do you want?" Melody asked it, crossing her arms over her chest. Envy just watched them for a second and chuckled. Dean however was not amused and pulled out his flask of holy water, throwing a few droplets onto the demon.

He reared back in his chair, grunting and hissing as the water sizzled against his skin. "We already have…what we want." He said looked back up at the group surrounding him, "We're out." He chuckled again, "We're free. Thanks to you, my kind are everywhere."

Envy stared up at Dean, "I am Legion, for we are many. So me, I'm just celebrating. Having a little fun."

"Fun?' Sam asked and Envy just chuckled darkly again,

"Yeah…fun. See, some people crochet. Others golf. Me? I like to see people's insides…" he ran his eyes up and down Melody's body, "on their outside."

Melody didn't even grimace at him, knowing he was just trying to get a rise out of her. So instead she kept a blank face and crossed her arms over her chest. Tamara stepped up to him and grumbled, "I'm gonna put you down like a dog."

"Please." He grinned at her contemptuously and laughed looking around at the group of hunters, "You really think you're better than me. Which one of you can cast the first stone, huh? What about you, Dean?" he said staring at the oldest Winchester, "You're practically a walking billboard of gluttony and lust."

Envy moved his eyes over to the woman standing just a few feet in front of him, "And Tamara…all that wrath oh," he made several 'tsk's' with his tongue before continuing, "It's the reason you and Isaac became hunters in the first place, isn't it? It's so much easier to drink in the rage than to face what really happened all those years ago."

"Ahh!" Tamara roared and started throwing punched into his face. Bobby and Melody quickly pulled her back and Envy just laughed again.

"Whew!" he shook his head and grinned at Tamara, "And you call us sins. We're not sins man. We are natural human instinct. And you can repress and deny us all you want, but the truth is, you are just animals. Horny…greedy…hungry…violent animals. And you know what?" he chuckled under his breath, "You'll be slaughtered like animals, too."

Everyone in the room just stared at him, several different emotions passing between them. All Melody could think about was how much she wanted to open up a window. The air was thick and smelled so stale…like old, dusty clothes mixed with…death. It was disgusting and Melody could only wrinkle her nose as Envy continued,

"The others—they're coming for me."

Dean stared down at the demon and gave him a half grin, "Maybe…" he leaned down to eye level with Envy and said, "but they're not gonna find you…cause you'll be in hell."

"Didn't think about that did ya big guy?" Melody smirked at him. Dean patted her shoulder,

"Someone send this clown packing."

"My pleasure," Tamara said scornfully as she flipped open her journal and began reading the exorcism out loud. The Winchesters and Bobby all walked off, giving Tamara some space. Melody heard her begin the rite and then heard the painful screams come out of Envy's mouth.

Melody leaned up against the shelves next to Sam, watching Dean and Bobby as their surrogate uncle said, "I don't think we're gonna have to worry about hunting them."

"What does that mean?" Sam asked him.

"I think, maybe this joker's right." Bobby answered, "They're gonna be hunting us. And they're not gonna quit easy."

Dean chewed his lip then sighed, "Alright, you three why don't you take Tamara and head for the hills? I'll stay back, slow them down, buy you a little time."

Melody stood up straight and threw out her arms, "Seriously Dean?"

"You're insane." Sam agreed with his sister, "Just forget about it, okay?"

"They're right." Bobby said but Dean just stared at all of them with a wide, stunned look,

"There's six of them, guys. We're outmanned, we're outgunned. We'll be dead by dawn."

"Maybe," Bobby had to give him that, "but there's no place to run that they won't find us."

Sam let out a sharp breath, "Look, if we're going down, we're going down together…alright?"

Melody stared hard at Dean and lightly slapped his shoulder, "Sound good Deanie?'

He just rolled his eyes at the name but agreed, "Let's not make it easy for them." There was a loud screech and then a blast of air whooshed through the house blowing out most of the candles that were scattered across the space.

They all looked over to see Envy's limp body still strapped to the chair and Tamara slam her book shut, setting it down on the table with a loud thud. "Demon's out of the guy." She said walking past the group.

"And the guy?" Sam asked her. Tamara didn't even look over her shoulder as she said devoid of all emotion,

"He didn't make it."

* * *

Later that night, Melody sat next to her older brother on the floor helping him load up his shotgun as her shotgun rested comfortably in her lap. Eventually she saw that he could handle it on his own and decided to just sit on the floor, resting her head against his shoulder.

A tense silence fell over the group; Sam was across from them, filling up different bottles with holy water. Melody started singing softly, "Go to sleep you little babe…go to sleep you little babe…your momma's gone away and your daddy's gonna stay didn't leave nobody but the baby…"

She closed her mouth but kept humming the familiar tune to herself, trying to settle her nerves. Melody glanced up, saw her brothers share a tense, nervous look and froze stopping her humming when the radio next to Sam started to crackle with static and then sad, heavy blues guitar music started playing through the speakers.

Dean cocked his shotgun standing up with his sister, "Here we go."

The Winchesters watched out the boarded up windows on one side of the house, Bobby and Tamara took the other. They were all dead silent as the music still played in the background. They had piles of salt all around the windows and doors, salt rounds loaded into the guns and enough holy water to bathe all of the demons.

Melody watched through the openings in the boards for any signs but saw nothing. She could certainly feel something though. It was like a little tingle, telling her that they were out there just watching the house. Before anyone could have guesses as to why the demons were taking so long to attack they all heard a familiar voice call out from the trees,

"Tamara!" It was Isaac. Melody silently moved over to the front of the house and peered out the window as Isaac kept calling for his wife. She saw him standing in the front yard, blood covered mouth upturning into a creepy grimace as he cried, "Help me! Please!"

Looking back, Melody saw Tamara shaking with fear. She felt empathy for the woman and realized then why she never made emotional attachments to men. Things like this were bound to happen. The only "men in her life" were her brothers and Bobby…anymore and she knew she would be digging her own grave.

Tamara had grabbed the very same stake she and her husband were planning to use earlier and slowly walked up to the door. Melody wasn't sure what the woman was planning so she just gripped her gun tighter and peered out the window again. Isaac had begun stumbling up the steps, "Tamara!" he grimaced holding his stomach, "I got away, but I'm hurt bad! I need help!"

Bobby had joined Tamara for support and said, "It's not him. It's one of those demons. It's possessing his corpse."

The woman was visibly fighting back tears and jumped when there was a solid knock on the front door and Isaac called out, "Baby! Why won't you let me in? You left me behind back there. How could you do that? We swore…at that lake in Michigan. Remember? We swore we would never leave each other!"

Melody joined Tamara at the door as she started sobbing and looked at Bobby for help, "How did he know that?" Melody squeezed the woman's shoulder,

"Easy Tamara…steady—it's not him." Tamara sucked in a shaking breath but couldn't stop the tears as Isaac called from the other side of the door,

"You just gonna leave me out here? You just gonna let me die?!" Melody gave Tamara's shoulder another solid, comforting squeeze and repeated "it's not him" to her over and over. Isaac roared from the other side of the door, "I guess that's what you do, dear! Like that night those things came to our house…came for our daughter! You just let her die, too."

"You son of a bitch!" Tamara screamed pulling open the door and throwing herself at Isaac.

"Tamara no!"

"Stop!" Bobby and Melody both called out to the woman but she was already out the door and falling down the steps with Isaac. Before she could run out after Tamara, Melody felt Bobby put a hand on her shoulder pushing her back behind him as the rest of the demons ran into the house. Four ran up the steps but one…a large, doughy man stayed on the ground floor with the two hunters.

Bobby pushed Melody back, both with equally terrified faces as the demon slowly advanced on them with a wicked grin creeping across his chubby face. They felt their backs hit a wall, both panting and frightened.

The demon advanced and froze, feeling his feet suddenly stick to the floor. He glanced up, saw the large devils trap painted on the ceiling and looked back at the hunters, the classic "puppy dog eyes" plastered on his face. If the situation weren't so dire, Melody would have probably laughed at how pathetically cute he actually looked for a second and instead said sarcastically,

"Aw…I think you hurt its feelings."

Bobby just sniggered, "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life son." He reached back, picking up the exorcism rite book and looked at Melody, "Go help your brothers, I got this."

She nodded; giving the demon who she assumed was Gluttony a passing glance before running up the stairs to the second floor where she knew Dean would be. Sam was at the top, covering the third floor. Coming around the corner, Melody heard the distinct sound of a girl giggle and sigh. Oh boy…I think Dean found lust, she thought slowly moving around the corner into the room where she heard the sighs.

Melody actually gagged, Dean was making out with the demon girl as he slowly began to back up pulling her with him towards the tub. He opened his eyes, saw his sister heft up her shotgun and braced himself. Within the next half second, Melody cocked her shotgun, aimed and pulled the trigger.

The demon pulled away from Dean, screaming in agony as her back was littered with salt rounds. "Really Dean? The demon girl?" Melody asked him, resting her gun on her shoulder. Dean ignored her for the moment and reached back, pulling the curtain to the shower/bathtub away to reveal a tub full of holy water.

Lust screamed but Dean just gripped the back of her head and threw her face into the water. "All part of the plan Mels…" he grumbled, pulled the demon back up and then dunked her in again.

"Eugh," Melody shivered, "you have no idea how bad they smell."

Dean still keeping Lust's head under the water looked at her, "Yeah, meant to ask you about that. You can smell them?"

"Uh…" Melody reached back to scratch at the base of her neck, "yeah. Think it has something to do with my powers. I don't know it's like…the stronger I get, the stronger my senses get. I can always feel when the demons are around and now I've noticed that I can smell them. It's weird."

Lust started to sizzle and burn, her screams getting weaker and weaker as Dean asked, "What do they smell like?"

Melody wrinkled her nose, "Stale…death…decay…everything bad. And then some."

* * *

_May 18, 2007_

_So…I seriously think I'm an aunt. Dean made us go to Indiana so he could rekindle the flame with his old ex…Lisa. Well she had a son and he was roughly the same age as when Dean last saw Lisa. Think it was nine years…no eight it was about eight years ago. Anyways this son of hers, Ben, was like the perfect age for Dean to well…be the father. Now, Lisa claimed that Ben wasn't Dean's kid but I really, really think she is just lying. I swear this kid talked, acted, had the same taste in music, even had the same damn appetite as Dean! Yup…I don't care what Lisa says or doesn't say. Ben is Dean's kid, and that means that Ben is also my nephew…cool…sort of._

_Seriously Ben was way too cute, like a little "mini-me" version of Dean. And the way Dean was all flustered…sorry I'm laughing way too hard to write this with a straight face. Dean made us swear to not mention it to him but…yeah…good times._

_Anyways there was this creepy little girl we had to deal with…oh and that demon Ruby showed up. Expressed interest in Sam…not that kind of interest that'd be gross but she was certainly interested in what we were doing. And she really liked French fries…blah, back to the case._

_So yeah turns out the kids were being taken by changelings. Eugh…basically there was a mother changeling using the children changelings to just feed off of everyone. We took care of it, Ben was a real trooper. Took the lead, helped us save the other kids and everything. _

_Oh and then Ruby revealed to Sam that she was a demon, I already knew about it but he reacted a lot more violent towards her than I did. Basically me and him did a search on all of mom's old friends and even distant relatives. All of them were dead. Systematically wiped off the map. Ruby, the demon girl, said that she was trying to figure out why and all she knows is that it's all about Sam. Whatever that means…anyway she claimed to be able to help us with Dean's deal. I don't really believe her or trust her, maybe it's my "senses" going nutso but honestly…I don't think I could ever trust a demon, even for a fraction of a second. Even if this demon chick just so happened to save my brother from three other demons…she still smells gross._

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_:D I don't normally end a chapter with a journal entry...oh! and the song Melody is singing is called Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby. I used the version off of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou" soundtrack. It's on my spotify playlist if you're interested in hearing it :) link is on my profile! _

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	24. Inner Thoughts

**I'm so so so so sorry it's takin me this long to post the next chapter. I get distracted way too easily, first I had a little mini vacation with the boyfriend, then Saints Row IV came out and I got mildly addicted to that for a bit (I know but hey, it's a ton of fun to play that game and I'm easily entertained) then I had a bunch written but decided to just trash it all. It would have just...blah just overwhelmed the story and we really need to kick things into high gear for the season 3 finale and then. Finally...we'll be able to have Castiel. Oh and question...this is something that's been putting me on hold for a while...if Melody is technically Michael's daughter...does that make her related to Castiel? I mean, she is also in a way John's daughter because (and I will go into more detail about this later on) Michael did possess John in order to well...make Melody. So yeah, does that make her related to Castiel? Cause if it does then I have another direction this story will go but still...just wondering. If you hadn't noticed from my tumblr stuff I was planning on her and Cas kind of having a serious relationship, but I am willing to change it up.**

**Bah! That was a long author's note, sorry about that heh...okay! This is just a journal entry for now, the rest should be up by (hopefully sunday)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_February 28, 2008_

_Well…been a while huh? Um…I'm 26 now, had a pretty uneventful birthday. Sam bought me a chocolate pie, Dean ate it all and I only got this tiny little slice. It's been pretty hard dealing with him. I mean, Dean's my brother and I love him more than anything in this stupid world but…I don't know, as every day passes I know that we're getting closer and closer to the date. And Sam hasn't made any progress on finding out how to stop the demon from taking Dean. Honestly, it's a lost cause. A deal is a deal, I guess the only way we can do that is if we…I don't know. We can't kill the demon, Dean said that the demon promised that it would kill Sam all over again if we even tried. I just…I wish we could just forget about the whole Dean and his selfish deal thing. Honestly I was furious with him at first, I still am, but lately I've been clinging to him more and more._

_I can't lose Dean. I just can't. He's always been there for me. Every time I thought I would fall apart, Dean would be there going "hey squirt" or "smile for me Mels" and then he would sing "Stand By Me" and I would join in and everything would be better, at least for the moment. I mean, just the other night I was so afraid of sleeping that Dean even stayed up with me. Who else would do that? He didn't ask any questions, didn't say a word about me not sleeping and just sat down in front of the television with me and we watched The Twilight Zone all night. _

_Well, lately the jobs have just been normal things. Sort of. After the whole incident with the Seven Sins, we ended up finding some old storage place that dad used. It had all these old things in there. Even had this old bracelet I gave him once. I'm wearing it right now actually, I thought he had lost it because I never saw him wearing it but…I guess he put it away for safe keeping. Anyways we found out these guys stole a hex box that had a lucky rabbit's foot in it. We found it, got a run of good luck for a while too. We got some money, cortesy of Sam, and I was able to buy some new boots with it. They're these worn out cowboy boots, it took me a while to break them in but damn are they comfy. I don't think I'll ever wear anything different._

_Anyways back to the case. Well turns out this chick, Bela Talbot (real annoying, arrogant bitch by the way) stole it from us so she could sell it to some rich guy. Apparently she knows everything about the world of the supernatural, but instead chose the life of a pathetic thief instead of trying to actually help a few people. I did punch her in the face though…felt really good after that. Oh and then, turns out Gordon (asshole) is still trying to kill off Sam even from behind bars. He hired one of his hunter friends to go after him and thankfully Dean saved him by using (this you're gonna love) a pen and a remote. I remember him claiming, "I'm Batman" afterwards. Yeah, he's Batman and I'm the friggin first lady._

_After that (Bela stole the last of our scratch off cards too…bitch) we dealt with a pair of demons turning a nice town into—quite literally—Sin City. Then this girl who was projecting her thoughts out using Grimm's Fairy Tales. Oh and then we got to deal with a ghost ship. Finally, a ghost ship. I've been wanting to have a ghost ship case for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately it had nothing to do with ghost pirates. Bela got involved again, and I punched her, again. Honestly she had it coming. She had to freaking Impala towed for god's sake! I mean, she did pay us back by giving us ten grand but still…one of these days my finger just might slip over the trigger and the bullet may or may not be aimed at her foot…or leg…or arm. Maybe the shoulder, that is where she shot Sam once, it'd be some sort of poetic justice right? Well Sam finally let out all his anger at Dean for the crossroads deal and all I could think was, "thank you!". He told Dean, and I completely agree with this, that he should worry about us so much and just care about himself._

_I mean, I'm 26 now. Pretty sure I can take care of myself. After the whole Bela and the ghost ship thing we met Gordon, again! He got out of jail somehow and was still all "Sam must die" to us. Well basically he got turned into a vampire, nearly killed Sam—again, and then Sam killed him. Ripped Gordy's head off with barbed wire…eugh. I'm all for stopping the guy, but the way you have to kill a vamp is pretty gruesome sometimes. Oh and Dean had to use the last bullet in the colt to save me from this other vampire girl. Yeah we have the colt now too, forgot to mention that._

_Then we had the strangest Christmas ever. It was a routine job, guy goes missing, Sam and Dean dress up as FBI agents, I go around posing as a reporter and we gather as much info as possible. Basically it boiled down to the fact that the only thing in common between the two men missing was that they both bisited the same shop, "Santa's Village" before they disappeared. Well we tracked down the guy who was playing the Santa at the shop to this rusty old trailer. We followed him because he had this weird limp and smelled like candy—just like the legend always said about the evil Santa. Well we heard a scream and burst into the trailer only to find…a drunk Santa watching porn and smoking weed from a bong._

_We had to pose as carol singers and sand "Silent Night" to get out of it. My brothers aren't that good of singers…especially when they're under pressure. So the next day, another guy went missing and Sam noticed that he had the same weird wreath as the other families. We find the makers of the wreath, this cookie cutter suburban couple Edward and Madge Carrigan and they were using Medowsweet which was an herb used in pagan rituals to summon gods to a human sacrifice. Turns out the couple were the pagan gods for the winter solstice. Yeah, they almost ate us._

_Oh and we actually sort of celebrated Christmas this year. It's always been hard for us to. I mean, for some reason Sam never liked Christmas and Dean just never really brought it up. I was always the one who had to force my brothers to at least sit with me and watch one damn Christmas movie. "Christmas Vacation" was always the favorite for us. Anyways Sam actually got in the mood this year. He had me help him decorate this crappy little tree he bought with a few lights and air fresheners and he even made eggnog. We actually exchanged gifts this year too. I bought Dean this huge boxed apple pie and a new toothbrush. For Sam I got him a toothbrush as well and this really thick book that was in this store, some sort of crime novel I think. Sam got a pair of skin magazines from Dean and shaving cream and gave me a cheap nail care set and even a new bottle of black nail polish, my personal favorite. Dean got a candy bar and oil for his car from Sam and gave me this huge carton of chocolate milk._

_It was probably the best Christmas we ever had…we ever will have. It was our last one with Dean…um…shit okay I can't start crying cause Dean is sitting like right in front of me on the other side of this stupid table in this stupid motel room. Blah! Okay um…after that we had to deal with this coven of witches and Ruby came back, helped us kill off this demon that the stupid witches were dealing with. I hate witches…really, really hate them. Oh and turns out, Ruby was once a human who just sold her soul to the same demon we had to kill. And Ruby said that she can't help Dean, that there's no way to get him out of his own deal and that she wants to help us and humanity because she remembers what it was like to be human. I still don't trust her. I don't know, maybe it's because she smells so bad to me, or maybe it's because every time I'm around her all these red flags and alarms are going off in my head but…she wants more than to just help humanity. I can tell._

_Thankfully she didn't mention anything about knowing who and what I am to my brothers. I still haven't told them about my nightmare…or what I know. Honestly I've put it all aside for now, I have bigger things to worry about. Like the impending death of my big brother…_

_Um after that we had to help Bobby because he got sucked into a dream world by a dreamwalker. That was interesting. Afterwards, I'm not really sure what happened. See Sam claims that he had to suffer one-hundred Tuesdays and relive the death of Dean but I can't remember any of it. All Sam says is that the trickster, the very one we thought we had killed, was still alive and was holding me captive while he played his little game with Sam. I really don't remember any of it. Sam kept saying that after the one-hundred days he had to spend another three months by himself, searching for both me and the trickster. When I think really, really hard, I get flashes of this room. It's really blurry, but I keep seeing this bright room with all these gold trimmed paintings and fancy furniture. Weird._

_Oh and then we got arrested in Colorado and spent about twenty four hours in a jail cell at a police station trying to defend ourselves and my favorite real FBI agent from a huge ass demon horde. Yup, Agent Henriksen, the guy who has been tracking us down for months was there. He's a pretty cool guy when he isn't trying to arrest us. Ruby showed up, again and helped us fight off the demons. But at first she was saying stuff about Lilith and how she is the one who wants Sam dead and that Ruby knew a ritual that would take out all the demons including herself but the ritual required the sacrifice of a virgin, who just so happened to be the super sweet receptionist Nancy. Of course we said hell freaking no and instead just fought off the entire horde on our own with help from Ruby._

_Henriksen said he would lie and tell everyone we died in the chopper explosion that killed his partner. I would have found some way to thank him but…Lilith killed him and everyone else at that precinct. Apparently she's this big boss downstairs or at least claims to be. I did some research of my own and found out that Lilith is…well I don't really know. Some lore suggests that she was actually Adam's first wife (yeah the Adam and Eve one) and refused to submit to him and ran away from the Garden of Eden and slept with the archangel Samael who I am led to believe was sort of…God's left hand I think. He is usually described as the angel of death…_

_Anyway I'm starting to ramble and this is probably the longest journal entry thing I've ever written. And now that I've got my mind on angels I'm thinking about that dream…and about…Michael. Ugh great, now I really won't be able to sleep. I need coffee…_

* * *

_Let me know what you all think about the whole Melody/Castiel thing! Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	25. Pictures and Fist Fights

**So I know I said sunday for the new chapter but...can we consider this super duper early sunday? No? Ah oh well. I stayed up all night perfecting this chapter. I was going to do a fun chapter and write the Ghostfacers episode but...like I've said in the past. It would have just swamped the story, as much as I love the Ghostfacers and how adorably nerdy Ed and Harry are. I miss them, hopefully they'll make a guest appearance in season 9. Probably not though, eh a girl can dream right?**

**Also a lot of you have told me your opinions on the subject of Melody/Castiel and all that other fun stuff. Well...I'm still deciding. I really, really want to go one way with the story and I'm trying to figure out how that could happen...got several ideas on how too.**

**Bah I'm talking too much, I'll let you get on with the chapter :) enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_May 1, 2008_

_Tomorrow is the day. Technically in about two and a half minutes it'll be the day but we can skip over those details. Dean and I are still up, he's reading about hellhounds right now. We had to deal with a few, more indirectly than directly a few weeks ago. But before that—and I'm going to talk about this because it cheers me up a little—we ran into the guys from hellhoundslair .com. Well they were calling themselves the "Ghostfacers" this time. Ed and Harry had a whole team this time too. They had a girl, Maggie was her name also Ed's adopted sister if I remember correctly. There was a guy, Bruce and another guy Corbett. Dean had been begging me and Sam to go to the Morten House saying it was our "grand canyon" and we reluctantly said yes. That's when we ran into the Ghostfacers and had to protect their asses while also trying to figure out what was going on at the house. Corbett got killed though, unfortunately. He was really sweet too, and he even saved us from the other side by taking out the home owner Freeman Daggett._

_I kind of felt bad though. The Ghostfacers had cameras and were recording everything, trying to get footage for a pilot for a tv …the world was not ready for that kind of stuff. And Sam, Dean and me all agreed that we'd rather not have our faces attached to that, so we had to destroy the evidence. Poor guys, it was actually kind of a cool show. Well after that, about three weeks I think, Dean got a call and he claimed it was dad…or…John. Honestly I don't know if I can even call dad dad anymore. Is he even my father? How the hell would Michael even be my father? How the hell would anyone let that happen? How the hell can it happen? I've done some research and have come up empty handed. There's nothing on nephilim. Only a few bible verses and that's about it. _

_Anyways, before I start thinking about things I don't want to think about, um…yeah I don't really know how but a crocatta is what was making all the calls. Sam killed it and Dean got in a fight, wouldn't really tell us all the details. Then afterwards when we were all back at the motel, Dean was saying things like he wanted to believe it was dad and that he's scared and that all of his actions were caused by the act of a desperate man and he doesn't expect anyone to show up with miracles and that the only person that can get him out of this whole mess is him. But…Sam and I can. That's what we're trying to do. Of course Dean just teased us for getting all "chick-flick" with him and dropped the subject._

_Then after that we had to deal with this creepy ass scientist, some nineteenth century surgeon named Doc Benton who found a way to live forever by replacing organs the moment they stopped working. Dad…or John—whatever—tried to take him out before, cutting out his heart and everything but it didn't work. Doc took me and Sam. He had slit my wrists open and was draining my blood, saying something about experimenting with drinking or using the blood—I don't know. I was going in and out the whole time we were there, and Doc almost took out Sam's eye. But thankfully Dean showed up before it was too late and we buried that ugly bastard alive…he deserved every grain of dirt that fell over his grave. Oh and Doc tried to say that he was the solution to Dean's problem, but Dean just said no and that he didn't want to live like him._

_Oh and Bela showed up again. I didn't get to punch her though, which I'm a little sad about but get this…apparently she made a deal with a demon when she was fourteen. Had the demon kill her parents and I'm assuming in return she had to get the colt for the demon (which we got back) and kill Sam. Dean had caught on to her plan and we were out of the hotel by the time she showed up. We left blow-up dolls in our places. Two for my brothers on the beds, and one for me on the sofa. Oh and Dean said he saw Devil's Shoestring above her door which is used to keep the hellhounds away. Turns out it was Lilith that held her contract and who holds Dean's contract too and Lilith is the one who wants Sam dead. Bela wants us to kill Lilith first I'm assuming because she doesn't want to die. We won't help her though; she lost her chance with us. If she had been honest (and not so much of an arrogant bitch) we probably would have helped her. Oh well, I don't feel that bad about not helping her. I know that's harsh but…she deserved it, in my opinion at least._

* * *

Melody leaned back in her chair, candles flickering and casting shadows against the walls. She picked at her black nail polish, fighting back the urge to fall asleep and stood up, going to the kitchen to make herself another cup of coffee. She stood by the counter, rolling out her neck and staring down at her clothes. Lately she had been wearing a lot more darker clothes, and her makeup started to look less and less worked on. Now she just seemed to smear on some shadow and dark eyeliners into the corners of her eyes, giving them a smudged up look.

Normally she wore dark denim and light colored shirts. Now she had on a pair of ripped up black tights, a worn rock concert shirt and dark red plaid shirt over it. She even had on her new favorite cowboy boots. They were a dark chocolate leather, with swift, woven designs in a burnt orange and soft baby blue. Sam had voiced his worry about her once, but Melody just shrugged it off saying she was fine and he didn't need to worry. But Sam knew better, and Melody hated the fact that he did. Most days she just wanted to curl up into a dark corner and not think about any of her worries or fears. She feared sleeping, feared seeing Michael again, feared losing Dean or worse…having to watch him die. It was coming, and Melody was so afraid of what it would do to her. When her father had died, she nearly fell apart but it was because of Dean that she was able to keep it together. Now that Dean was the one who was going to die…what would happen to her?

She started to idly play with her bracelet. It was a gift she had given her father once, probably the only gift she had ever given him. She remembered when she had presented the bracelet to him…

_"Here dad uh…happy father's day." Thirteen year old Melody Winchester scratched the back of her neck nervously, setting down the tiny white envelope on top of the table. It was a rare, quiet night for the family and John had only just finished his first beer for the night so Melody figured now was her chance. John gave her a questioning stare before sighing, figuring his daughter would not go away until he opened whatever it is she had given him and started pulling apart the envelope. What came out into his hand actually surprised him. John thought maybe she had gotten him some candy or hell even a bottle opener. But instead a very nice leather bracelet fell into his open hand._

_He admired the bracelet for a minute and heard his daughter give a small cough, "I uh…I figured since there's three of the little ropes uh…maybe those could represent me, Sam and Dean you know?"_

_John looked at the little ropes that were tied into the bracelet. There were three yes, one black, another a light tan and the last a pale white. He grinned and picked up the light tan rope, "Dean," he pointed at the black one, "Sam," and then he lightly touched the white one, "Melody."_

_For the first time in a very long time, John actually smiled—really smiled at his daughter. Not because she had killed something, not because she had had a good shot or thrown her knife the way he had taught her to. He smiled at her because she genuinely made him feel happy with the tiniest gesture of saying "thanks for being my dad" by giving him a simple bracelet. "So you like it?" Melody asked, wringing her fingers together nervously._

_John smiled again and gripped the bracelet tightly in his hand, "I love it."_

Melody grinned fondly at the memory, and then she started to think…did he know about me the whole time? Did he know that I wasn't really his daughter the whole time? How long had he been lying to her, been telling her that she was his baby girl when in fact she was just some half human half…angel. Melody blinked away a few tears, pushing aside all of her questions and emotions. There was no point wondering about that sort of stuff now anyways. The man who she had grown up with as her father was dead, and now the…thing that claimed to be her real father plagued her every thought. It wasn't true, it _was_ _not_ true.

She poured herself some coffee, dropping a spoonful of sugar but leaving out the cream, deciding that the cream would just be too heavy on her empty stomach and returned to the table where her brother sat at. Dean had fallen asleep on the table, face laid on top of a book he had been pouring over the entire night. Melody checked her phone, it was half past one in the morning and she was no were near tired or willing to sleep for that matter. Melody grinned at Dean's quiet snores and took a large gulp of her coffee.

Deciding to try and keep her mind occupied, she opened up her journal to a fresh page and stared at her brother for a moment then got up slowly, and moved to the sofa next to the table he had fallen asleep at. Carefully, she pulled out her Wonder Woman lunch pail and opened it as quietly as she could. Reaching in, she pulled out her special wax pencils, only having ever used them one other time to draw a picture of her mother. Melody only ever used color on the pictures that mattered the most to her, the ones that held the biggest memories and held the most value to her. With a line of tears rimming her eyes, she began drawing the sleeping face of Dean, knowing full well it was the last picture she would ever have of her big brother.

* * *

"Dig up anything good?" Sam's voice jerked Melody awake. She had fallen asleep on the couch, held laid back awkwardly and her journal still open to her now finished drawing of Dean. Quickly, she picked up her pencils and put everything away, blowing off a few stray pieces of wax off her journal before shutting it and stuffing it into her bag. She glanced at her hands, now covered with different colors of wax but just ignored it and turned her attention to her brothers.

Dean seemed to have been startled awake too and rubbed his eyes before answering Sam, "No. Nothing good."

"Well, Bobby has. Finally." Sam said with a grin. Melody stood up quickly when she heard the news,

"Really? What'd he find?"

"A way to find Lilith." Sam said and Melody could have jumped up and down like a giddy school girl she was so relieved. Dean, still seated at the table nodded slowly,

"Wow. With just uh, thirty hours to go." He glanced at his watch and then looked back up at his brother and sister. Thirty hours and then he would never get to see them ever again. Never drink a beer with Sam, sing loud rock songs with Melody…never get to tell them how much he loves them both. Shaking off his bubbling emotions, Dean squeezed his eyes shut for a moment fighting off his exhaustion he said, "Hey, why don't we just make a T.J. run, you know? Some senoritas, cervezas? Uh…we could—what's Spanish for "Donkey Show"?"

Melody and Sam both chuckled at him while Sam said, "If we do save you…let's never do that."

"Aw…party pooper," Melody grumbled, knocking her shoulder into Sam's arm. Dean just got quiet though, nodding his head and casting his eyes downwards again. Taking notice of his less than normal attitude at their light banter, both Sam and Melody moved in to try and comfort their older brother. The youngest sat down in the chair across from Dean, and Melody kneeled down next to him taking his hand into hers and squeezing gently.

"Hey, hey, Dean. Uh…" Sam began gently, took in a breath and continued, "Look, we're cutting it close, I know. But we're gonna get this done. I don't care what it takes Dean. You're not gonna go to hell."

Melody tightened her grip on Dean's hand making sure he was looking her in the eye when she said, "We won't let you. I swear and…"

"And I swear it too," Sam added catching on and finishing up for his sister, "Everything's gonna be okay."

Dean gave Sam a half nod and squeezed his sister's fingers weakly. He watched his younger brother give him a half smile and was about to give him one too when he felt a chill crawl up his spine. And then he saw it. The first of many signs to come in the following thirty hours. His brother's face grew dark and twisted, eyes sinking in, skin turning a sickly yellow. His brother's head turned and jerked in several directions, until his mouth opened and a loud, piercing scream came out of his mouth. Dean blinked and the ghoul face he had just seen was gone.

Ignoring what he had just seen and putting aside the fear that was slowly creeping up his spine, Dean just nodded again feeling his lip twitch he just grumbled out a simple, "Yeah…okay."

* * *

"So, you got a name?" Bobby said hefting the…whatever it was, Melody wasn't quite sure, onto the table over a map of the states. It was a strange device. It sat on a tripod, with a large metal circle around the top of the legs—symbols carved into the metal—and another, smaller circle with the same symbols at the peak of the device. Hanging down in the middle of the legs was a long, thin metal pole attached to a glass ball from the top. The glass ball sat in the center of the top ring, moving freely with the movement of the weight at the end of the thin pole.

"That's the whole kit and caboodle." Bobby continued explaining how the tripod was used, "With the right name, the right ritual, ain't nothing you can't suss out."

"Like the town it's in?" Sam asked from his side of the table. Melody stood close to her brother Dean, and watched Bobby from across the table answer,

"Kid, when I get done, we'll know the street." Melody leaned in close to Dean, feeling to need to be as near to him as she possibly could. Dean didn't say anything, and let his sister gently wrap her arms through his, holding on tightly as Bobby reached up and gave the large glass ball at the top a twist and started chanting in Latin.

The metal pole moved around and around the map, and as Bobby's chant came to a stop the pole slowly fell onto a point on the map. They all stared down and Bobby announced where they would be heading, "New Harmony, Indiana. And we have a winner."

Melody released her hold on Dean, knocking her finger against the pole as Sam stood up, "Alright. Let's go." The younger Winchesters both started to move from the table but Dean just held out his hands.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Hold on." He gently held back Melody from moving, "Just holster it up there Walker and Texas Ranger."

"Dean…" Melody complained and Sam threw out his arms,

"What's the problem?"

" "_What's the problem_"?" Dean restated and then said, "Come on, where do I begin?" He watched his siblings closely as he began explaining himself, "I mean, first of all, we don't even know if Lilith actually holds my deal. We're going off of Bela's intel? I mean when that bitch _breathes_, the air comes out crooked okay? Second, even if we could get to Lilith we have no way to gank her. And third, isn't this the same Lilith that wants Sam's giant head on a pike? Should I continue?"

Melody rolled her eyes while Bobby scoffed, "Ain't you just bringing down the room?"

"Well it's a gift." Dean grinned sarcastically ignoring his sister's eye roll.

Sam threw up his hands, "So, then what are we supposed to do Dean?"

"Well, just cause I got to die doesn't mean you have to, okay?" he answered harshly, "Either we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

"Okay fine," Sam stated, "if that's the case, I have the answer."

"You do?" Dean and Melody both asked him. Sam just nodded before explaining,

"Yeah, a surefire way to confirm it's Lilith and a way to get us a bona fide demon-killing ginsu."

Melody knew exactly what he meant, and—rather reluctantly—had to agree with him. Dean however, did not agree and growled out, "Dammit Sam, no."

Dean turned away from them, not seeing Melody throw back her head in defeat or Sam clench his fists. "We are so past arguing," Sam fumed at his brother's back, "Dean, Mel and I are summoning Ruby."

"The hell you are!" Dean shouted turning around to face his siblings, "We got enough problems as it is."

"Exactly," Melody stepped up to him, standing at her full height as her hands shook in the air, "And we got _no time_ and _no choice_ either." She felt Sam walk up to stand behind her while Dean just shook his head,

"Come on guys, she is the miss universe of lying skanks, okay? She told you two that she could save me huh? Lie! She seems to know everything about Lilith but forgot to mention—oh right—Lilith owns my soul!"

Melody clenched her jaw while Sam argued from behind her, "Okay fine, she's a liar. She's still got that knife."

"Dean?" Bobby tried to call over the arguing siblings but they didn't hear him and Dean just argued back at his brother a bit louder,

"For all we know, she works for Lilith."

"Then give us another option Dean!" Melody shouted back at him and Sam just said in a seething, calm voice,

"Tell us what else there is."

Bobby tried again, this time a bit louder to get their attention "Dean they're right—"

"No! Dammit!" Dean screamed at them, causing everyone to fall silent. After a pause and after taking in a short, shaking breath Dean spoke in a quieter voice, "Just no. We are not gonna make the same mistakes all over again. You guys want to save me, find something else."

He walked away from them and sat down at a table in the corner, done with the argument. Melody seethed, clenched her fists and turned her back to Dean. She put a hand against her forehead, feeling a harsh headache begin to pound against her skull. Sam, seeing his sister's distress reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze.

Melody opened her eyes to find Bobby pulling on his vest, "Where you goin Bobby?" she asked the mechanic. He flicked his vest, adjusting it over his arms,

"I guess to…" he shrugged and threw up his hands in defeat, "find something else.

* * *

Melody leaned her hands onto the table top, staring down at the map. She had circled New Harmony, Indiana with a red pen and was currently boring a hole into the place where the little words were written on the map with her eyes. Damn Dean and his stupid, stubborn ass ways. He had fallen asleep again on the sofa and Melody was waiting on her younger brother.

Sam slowly walked into the room, arms filled with various pieces and nodded once at his sister. Giving Dean one last look, they quietly left the room and made their way down into the basement. Sam set up the summoning ritual and performed it while Melody stood behind him, keeping her eyes and ears open in case Dean happened to wake up and find them missing or decide to come down and interrupt the ritual.

There was just no other option. No matter how much she hated doing this; Melody knew it was the only way. Sam finished up the ritual, lighting the bowl of sulfur on fire and slowly standing up. They both turned their heads, eyes going to the stairs leading down to the basement after hearing what sounded like a door creaking open.

"You know, phones work too." The Winchesters looked back, finding Ruby standing on the other side of the room leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest casually. She grinned at the siblings, "Hey Sam, Melody. How's tricks?"

Melody's nostrils flared when she caught a whiff of Ruby's scent and grimaced. She could never get used to that or the heaviness of the air whenever a demon was present. "How do you get around so fast?" Sam asked her.

"I got the super bowl jetpack." Ruby answered flatly.

"Cute," Melody smirked sarcastically, getting a half assed grin from Ruby before she got down to business.

"So…you called?" she stood from her place against the wall and walked over to them. Sam took in a sharp breath,

"Did you know?"

"I'm gonna need a tiny bit more…" Ruby's face scrunched up in confusion and Melody huffed,

"About Dean's deal—that Lilith holds the contract."

Ruby came to a stop in front of them, "Yes. I did."

"Right, so that gives me a good enough excuse to off you right now." Melody sneered pulling out the her pistol from behind her and pulling back the hammer. Sam held out a hand, lowering his sister's arms and trying to get her to control her temper.

"And, what," he asked Ruby, "you didn't think that was more important?"

"You weren't ready." Ruby answered him, looking straight at the youngest. Again Melody felt her temper rise. She snarled, eyes flashing silver for a half second and pointed the gun at Ruby again.

"More excuses—more like proof that I should kill you." Ruby actually flinched a little when she saw Melody's luminescent eyes. Sam pushed his sister's arms down again giving her a stern look before asking,

"Ready for what?"

Ruby sighed, "If I had told, you three chuckle-heads would have just charged after her half-cocked, and Lilith would have peeled the meat from your pretty, pretty faces."

"Well we're ready now." Sam said and then glanced at the demon's holster, "I want your knife."

The demon watched him for a moment, keeping a wary eye on Melody before slowly moving around to stand closer to them, "You're right about one thing. You are ready. And now's the time, too—Lilith's guard is down."

Ruby walked around the siblings and Melody kept a firm grip on her pistol, finger hovering just over the trigger, "Is that so?" she queried.

The demon nodded, "She's on shore leave, a little R&R."

Melody made sure to keep her back facing away from Ruby as the demon slowly moved around the siblings. Sam just stood still, "The hell does that mean?"

"Trust me—you don't want to know." Ruby answered quickly and then questioned, "You didn't lose those hex bags I gave you?"

"We got em." Sam said and Melody absentmindedly moved her free hand to the inside hidden pocket of her leather vest, feeling the small lump where she had been keeping the hex bag.

Ruby nodded in approval, "Good. Then she won't sense that you're coming."

"So you'll give us the knife?" Sam asked eagerly turning to face her.

"No," Ruby deadpanned and Melody snarled again,

"You just said—"

"You want to charge in with one little pigsticker?" Ruby challenged, "It's a waste of a true-blue window, like hitting Hitler with that exploding briefcase—forget it."

"Okay," Sam stopped her, "then how?"

"I know how to save you brother—"

"No you don't!" Melody shouted pointing her gun at Ruby again, "You told Dean you couldn't—you've been lying to us this whole damn time! So just give Sam the god dammed knife!"

"You're not the ones I've been lying to…" Ruby said quietly.

"Oh so you can save him?" Sam demanded.

"No," the demon said harshly then stared straight at Sam, "but _you_ can."

The Winchesters stared at her, both confused and Melody slowly lowered her gun again as Sam shook his head, "What?"

"Sam," Ruby spoke gently, "you've got some God-given talent. Well, not _god_ given but you get the gist."

"All that psychic crap?" Sam scoffed, "That's gone ever since Yellow Eyes died."

Ruby just shook her head, "Not gone…dormant. And not just visions, either. Why do you think Lilith is so scared of you?"

"Right," Sam rolled his eyes, "she's scared of me."

"If you wanted, you could wipe her off the map without moving a muscle." The demon explained, and Melody could see her getting a bit…excited at the idea of it.

"I don't believe you." Sam said and heard Melody agree,

"Yeah, neither do I."

"It's the truth." Ruby defended quickly.

Sam still didn't buy it, "And you decided to tell me this just now?"

"Um…demon." Ruby gestured to herself, "Manipulative is kind of in the job description." She ignored Melody's eye roll and continued explaining herself, "The fact is, is that you never would have considered it, not until you were—"

"Desperate enough?" Sam finished for her. Melody saw his jaw tighten but kept her eyes focused on the demon, still not trusting her completely.

"You don't like being different." Ruby said looking up at Sam, "You hate the way Dean looks at you sometimes, like you're some sort of sideshow freak. Or how he seems to favor Melody over you sometimes?" Melody's brow scrunched up, confused and a little shocked to hear what Ruby was saying. She looked at Sam, his eyes were downcast and Melody knew that Ruby was telling the truth then just by the way Sam wouldn't look at his sister.

Melody never knew he felt that way. The damn giant never talked to her or said anything—and she had always thought Sam would be more open and willing to talk about how he truly felt. _Classic Winchesters_, she thought bitterly returning her attention to Ruby as the demon said,

"But suck it up because we got a lot of ground to cover, and we got to do it fast. But we _can_ do it." She watched the sibling's reluctant faces, though Melody seemed a bit more angry than her brother and tried again. "Look, call me a bitch, hate me all you want but I have never lied to you two. Not ever. And I'm telling you Sam—you can save your brother. And I can show you how."

"So, that's you huh? Our slutty little yoda." Melody and Sam both turned to find their older brother walking up behind Ruby and coming to a stop a few feet away."

"Dean," Ruby turned to greet the eldest Winchester, "charming as ever."

"Oh I knew you'd show up…" he said walking around, "cause I knew _they_ wouldn't listen." Sam and Melody both averted their eyes in slight shame having been caught in the act. Dean ignored their shame filled faces and continued, "But you're not gonna teach Sam anything. You understand me? Over my dead body."

"Oh," Ruby grinned, "well you're right about that."

"What you are gonna do is give me that knife." Dean order her, "Then you can go crawl back into whatever slop you came from and never both me, my sister or my brother again—are we clear?"

"Your brother is carrying a bomb inside of him, and we'd be stupid not to use it." Ruby tried to explain.

"Dean…" Sam said and heard his sister say gently,

"Just, hold on—"

"_Mels_…_Sam_…don't." Dean demanded, using a harsh voice—one he only ever used when he was using the powers of the 'oldest' against them. The younger siblings closed their mouths while Dean gave them a dumbfounded look, "Come on guys. What are you blind? Can't you see that this is a trick?"

"That's not true." Ruby defended herself but Dean ignored her.

"She wants you to give in, Sam, to this whole demonic…psychic whatever, okay?" Dean barreled over Ruby locking eyes with his brother, "I mean, hell, she probably wants you to become her little "antichrist superstar"."

He grinned sarcastically down at the demon who just seethed, "I want Lilith dead. That's all."

"Why?" Dean asked and Ruby stared up at him,

"I've told you why."

"Oh right, yeah." Dean rolled his eyes at her, "Because you were human once, and you liked kittens and long walks on the beach."

Melody knew her big brother well enough to know when he was purposefully trying to piss someone off. She kept a close eye on Dean as Ruby fumed at him, "You know I am so sick of proving myself to you. You want to save yourself, this is how, you dumb, spineless dick!"

Dean seemed a bit surprised at the insult. He took a half step backwards, mouth twitching before pulling back and punching Ruby in the mouth. The demon's head flew back, grunting in surprise. Melody tensed up while Sam just stared in shock. Ruby slowly turned back around to face Dean, wiping the blood from her mouth and snarled punching Dean in the chest sending him flying backwards a few steps.

She hit him again in the jaw but Sam stepped in, "Whoa! Ruby, hey!" he grabbed her by the arms trying to calm her down, but the demon turned on him and kneed the hunter in the ribs. Sam kneeled over and Ruby kicked him again in the chin sending Sam to fly back into a support beam. Sam fell to the ground, slightly dazed from the hit.

Melody snarled and powered up running up to Ruby she threw out her pistol, using the butt of the gun as her weapon. She hit Ruby across the face once, twice…three times before the demon got the upper hand and knocked the pistol away. The gun skidded across the floor but Melody ignored it and with the hand that was now free of the pistol, punched Ruby again in the jaw.

With her right fist sent into the demon's jaw, she used her left fist and threw it into the demon's ribs. Melody could have sworn she heard something snap after that hit. Ruby doubled over from the hit, feeling the breath escape her lungs. Melody grabbed the demon's head and upper back and kneed Ruby in the stomach once…twice…three times. She picked up Ruby by the arms, making the demon stand in front of her and headbutted Ruby.

Both demon and hunter fell backwards, dazed from the hit. Melody had been out of practice when it came to that sort of move, and didn't realize how hard the demon's head would be. She fell back a few steps, vision swimming a little but quickly recovered only to feel Ruby's foot get thrown into her stomach. Melody flew backwards, landing on her spine next to Sam, writhing in pain from landing on the concrete floor of the basement.

Ruby turned around only to find Dean who punched her in the face again. He went for another hit, but the demon easily avoided it, bending Dean over and kneeing him in the chest and then in the throat. Dean fell over on his knees and tried to crawl and back away from Ruby. The demon snarled and pulled back her leg and kicked Dean hard in the stomach with the toe of her boot. Dean fell over again, this time into the far wall of the basement.

He stood up slowly, grimacing in pain. Ruby came up to him, picked the hunter up by his arms and headbutted him…hard. Dean fell back again, landing on the hard floor but quickly caught himself from falling too far. He leaned up, Ruby was standing just a few feet in front of him and grinned a bloody smile at her.

"What the hell are you grinning at?" Ruby asked, breathing heavily from the fight.

Dean stood up, still smirking; "Missing something?" he asked the demon, holding up her very own knife. Ruby stared at the knife and sneered,

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch." She ran at him, only to find her feet glued to the floor. Ruby pushed against the force holding her back, feeling that awful dread wash over her. Dean just grinned even more and she glanced up at the ceiling, finding a devil's trap painted there.

Melody groaned, having powered down as soon as she knocked heads with Ruby, and slowly stood up. She helped up Sam and stared at the scene unfolding before them; if she wasn't so beaten and bruised she'd be grinning just like Dean.

"Like I said…" Dean flipped the knife in his hand and stared at the demon, "I knew you'd come."

He moved away from her but stopped when he heard Ruby call out, "Wait! You're just gonna leave me here?"

Dean ignored her, "Sam, Mels…let's go."

"Oh, so you're just too stupid to live, is that it?" Ruby fumed as the Winchesters slowly began to ascend the stairs leaving her where she was. "Then fine. You deserve hell." She called up to their retreating forms, "I wish I could be there, Dean. I wish I could smell the flesh sizzle off your bones! I wish I could be there to hear you scream!"

"And I wish you'd shut your piehole, but we don't always get what we want."

* * *

_For those that are interested, I have a picture of Melody's outfit for this chapter and the picture she drew of Dean on my tumblr page. Check it out if you're curious. Oh and quick little shout out to all of you, you're the greatest readers ever! Love you guys!_

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	26. Always The Strongest

**OH MY GOSH! I completely forgot about a journal entry that was supposed to be at the beginning of chapter 25! Gah! *smacks forehead* that's what I get for staying up all night and then posting the new chapter. Well nobody panic like I did when I realized my silly mistake (I didn't really panic...more like mentally facepalmed) I put it in the last chapter. It should be there by the time this is up. I would recommend reading it before this chapter, or after whatever you prefer. Oh and this is a bit on the shorter side buut...next chapter is going to be quite the doozy and you're getting a preview of that in this chapter. Fair warning...there are some heavy Winchesterfeels in this chapter.**

**Okay I'll stop talking now :) enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

The Winchesters stood around the table having cleared off the large map and replaced it with their weapons. Melody filled up her shotgun with the last of her own rock salt rounds then moved to her pistol. It was more of a last resort weapon than anything else and would only barely slow any demon down. Sam filled up his shotgun with ammunition,

"So what, you gonna let Ruby rot down there?" he pointed to question to Dean who cocked his own shotgun and set it down on the table.

"That's the idea."

"I am in high agreement with you there brother," Melody nodded picking up and idly inspecting her hunting knife before sheathing it in the holster around her thigh.

"Dean…guys what if, uh…what if Ruby's right?" Sam asked getting the attention of his siblings, "What if I can take out Lilith?" Melody honestly agreed that they should try and explore that possibility. Dean however, was absolutely against it and gave his brother a deadpanned look. Sam averted his eyes, "Quit looking at me like that."

"What are you gonna give her the "Carrie" stare, and Lilith goes poof?" Dean questioned, brow creased, dark circles underneath his eyes from lack of sleep.

Sam shrugged, "I don't know what Ruby meant. You know, maybe we should just go ask her."

Dean set his gun down pointedly, "Sam, you wanted the knife. I got you the knife." He walked a few steps around the table, done with the conversation.

Melody and Sam however were not. Melody stepped around the youngest, saying as calm a voice as she could muster, "Dean, just hold on a second. Sam's got a point."

"Last time," Sam argued, "Lilith snapped her fingers and put thirty demons on our ass, and all we got's one little knife? I mean like you said, we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

"Well, this ain't smart." The oldest argued back.

Melody shook her head, "Dean we've only got one shot at this—just one." She held up her index finger to emphasize her point, "And if there's a surefire way…then maybe we should at least talk about it."

Dean walked over to his siblings then, "Mels—Sam, we are not gonna make the same mistake all over again."

"You said that but what does that even mean?" Sam asked, referring to what Dean had said earlier that day. The oldest Winchester threw out his hands but kept a calm, even toned voice,

"Don't you see a pattern here? Dad's deal, my deal, now this? I mean, every time one of us is up the creek, the other is begging to sell their soul. That's all this is guys. Ruby's just jerkin your chain down the road Sam. You know what it's paved with, an you know where it's going."

Melody sucked in her bottom lip. She knew exactly where Dean had gotten the idea from. He had gotten it from her. Last year when Dean had first made his deal, she had said basically the same thing. How much she hated the fact that their family just seemed to throw themselves in front of the bus for the other, not taking into account what could happen to those that got left behind. But it was a double edged sword for her…because if she had been in Dean's place, or even in her dad's place, she'd have done the exact same thing.

Dean picked up another shotgun off the table and leaned against the pale wood as he stuffed a few more rounds into the weapon. Sam sighed, "Dean," he walked around to stand in front of his brother, "what are you afraid's gonna happen?"

Melody sat down on the table next to her big brother, "This is us you're talking to. We can handle it."

Sam caught his sister's eye for a half second before saying, "And if it'll save you—"

"Why even risk it?" Dean asked them, a light bruise starting to form on his right brow,

"Because you're our brother." Sam answered, "And because you did the same thing for me."

Dean let out a quick breath, "Yeah I know. And look how that turned out." That seemed to deflate his siblings a little. They both cast their eyes downwards and Dean continued, "All I'm saying…guys all I'm saying is that you're my weak spot." Melody knew Sam was the bigger weak spot. Probably because he was the youngest, or maybe because her and Dean had already shared so much they both knew that they could each handle themselves.

Sam glanced up at his brother who just nodded, "You are. And I'm yours."

The youngest of the three siblings quickly shook his head, "You don't mean that. We're—we're family."

"I know," Dean agreed, "and those evil sons of bitches know it too. I mean what we'll do for each other, you know, how far we'll go—they're using that against us."

"So you saying we just stop looking out for each other?" Melody asked him. Dean shook his head quickly,

"No. We stop being martyrs. We stop spreading it for these demons. We take this knife," he picked up Ruby's blade, "and we go after Lilith our way, the way dad taught us to. And if we go down then uh…then we go down swinging." Melody still had her eyes on her boots, Sam was watching his brother. Dean gave them a half-grin, "What do you think?"

There was a pause. A small one, but long enough that Melody knew she had no other way of getting Dean out of his plan. So she just looked up at him, sniffled, and nodded her head. Sam nodded as well, "I think you totally should have been jamming "Eye of the Tiger" right there."

Melody chuckled while Dean grimaced, "Oh bite me." He stood up and faced the table messing with the weapons again, "I totally rehearsed that speech, too."

Sam let out a breathy laugh, walking around to stand on the other side of the table across from Dean, "So Indiana huh?"

"Yeah, where Lilith is on shore leave." Dean tried to grin but it just came off as a grimace and quickly wiped off the look while Melody just said a quiet "yup" before standing back up and returning to preparing her weapons. "Tell me something," Dean questioned, "what the hell does a demon do for fun?"

* * *

About half an hour later, they had to car loaded up and were ready to head out. Dean made one last quick run through of the house making sure he got everything. Satisfied he turned around, only to jump back. "Jeez! Melody! You scared the crap out of me…" he exclaimed, heart stammering in his chest.

His sister was standing just a few feet away from him, wringing her fingers together, "Sorry…I just—I just wanted to talk to you."

Dean huffed, "Well we can talk later, we need to get moving." He walked around her, only to be stopped when her hand shot out and gripped his arm tightly.

"No it can't Dean. Please I need to tell you before it's too late. Before…before we get to the end of this and…oh god," she seemed to be losing her breath, taking in short, shallow intakes of air Melody started to hyperventilate as tears started to fall out of her eyes.

"Mels—Mels," Dean grabbed her shoulders and gently shook her, "Melody stop, breathe alright? Slowly…breathe."

She didn't slow down her breaths though, and instead just started to tremble and shake her head, "I can't breathe. I-I can't. You're…we…I…" she gasped for air, eyes going wide, "I can't Dean. There's…I n-need you t-to know."

Dean felt himself beginning to panic when he saw his sister's panic attack. He had never seen her like this before, he wasn't quite sure how to handle it so he just kept his voice even and steady, "Know what Mels? What do you need to tell me?"

"I…I don't think you're a-a selfish bastard. I've n-never thought that," more tears fell down her cheeks and she took in several quick breaths in quick procession, causing her chest to hitch and quake, "you've…you've always b-been there for us. Always a-and I-I don't want you to th-think that I-I ha-hate you. Cause I don't Dean…I…"

A wave of sobs racked her body and Dean just gripped her shoulders even tighter, "I know you didn't mean any of that Mels. You don't have to tell me. I mean, come on. I'm your big idiot brother remember? I'm supposed to goof and piss you off, that's part of my job."

He tried to get her to smile but Melody just trembled even more. She stared at him, chest quaking and eyes red and puffy. Then she sobbed loudly, a blubbering, hoarse wail and threw her arms around Dean's neck, "I don't want you to die! I don't want you to leave!" she sniffled, buried her face into his shoulder and nearly screamed, "I don't want any of this anymore!"

Dean caught her, letting his sister cry into his shoulder as he quietly shushed her, rubbing her back trying to get her to breathe again. "Hey, hey, hey…look at me." Dean pulled back holding her by the shoulders and wiping away her tears, "Mels…do you know why I always worried more about Sam than I did about you?"

Her answer was just a sniffle, keeping her eyes downcast toward the floor. Dean slowly raised her chin with his free hand, tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled warmly at her, "You were always the strongest. Out of all of us, you were always the one who could dig themselves out of the dirt the fastest. Dad knew it too. That's why he always paid more attention to Sam and me. You've always been _my_ rock you know? My solid ground, my shelter in the storm. And I need you now more than ever." He wiped away a few more stray tears and held her face in his hands, "Can you do that for me Mels? Will you stand by me?"

Melody, having soaked in every word of her brother's speech, sniffled loudly feeling her breath start to become more and more regular again. She nodded quickly, reached up and wiped her own tears away, "Till the end Dean. I promise."

He didn't really want to hear that but he knew what she meant by it, and pulled his sister in for another warm hug. Melody buried her face into his chest, "Love you brother-bear." She mumbled into the fabric of his shirt.

Dean blinked away a few tears of his own, "Love you too squirt."

* * *

Melody let out a long, drawn out yawn and stretched in the back seat. They had been driving for several hours, even had a Bon Jovi jamming session a few miles back. Dean had said no to Sam trying to give him his own goodbye speech and felt like her little brother actually really deserved one. She had gotten one of her own, why couldn't Sam? Then again she had practically thrown her "goodbye speech" at Dean, cried and had a little panic attack just to put some more icing on the cake.

Thinking back to her little moment of pure panic…she couldn't really believe it. Sure, she had had moments of incredibly strong emotion, but she'd never broken down like that. Probably the closest she ever got to a panic attack before was after…her nightmare.

She had called out to her old friend…Castiel a few times the past year but had not heard or felt anything. And because she refused to sleep, only getting a few hours during car rides and such, she never really had the chance to go into a dream.

Honestly it had probably all been in her head. Maybe it was a way she dealt with all of the emotional trauma she had had to handle in the past few years. Melody rubbed at her heavy eyes trying to make herself alert and focused and froze. Red and blue lights shined into the Impala. Melody looked out the back window finding a cop car with its lights on right behind them. "We getting pulled over?" Sam asked coming out of his light snooze.

Dean glanced in his rearview mirror, hearing the sirens come on now, "I got a busted taillight. It's not like we're in a hurry or nothing." He pulled to car to the side of the road, getting out his fake I.D. and the fake registration.

The officer slowly walked up to the car, shining his light in the back seat, blinding Melody for a moment before walking over to Dean's window. "Problem officer?" The oldest asked, glancing at the tall, gray haired man before handing up his license and registration.

Melody stared up at the cop, noticed his badge read "Paulson" and watched him aim his flashlight down at her brother's things. "Did you realize you have a taillight out Mr…Hagar?"

_Really? That's what you picked? _Melody thought fighting back a grin. She really needed to talk to her brothers about not using names of rockstars anymore. People always gave them funny looks. She shifted in her seat, leaned forward for a slight moment, felt the breeze of the cold night air coming in from Dean's open window and froze. Had she just smelled what she thinks she smelled…?

Discreetly, Melody reached over and slowly—painstakingly slowly—lowered her own window by half an inch. She leaned back in her seat, Officer Paulson hadn't noticed her so she was in the clear and stuck her nose up into the crack in the window—and immediately pulled back. Yup…she had smelled what she thought she smelled.

Dean, not noticing his sister, looked out of his window at the officer and did a double take. Officer Paulson regarded him casually but Dean felt his whole body tense up and a fresh set of chills crawl up his spine. "Yes. Yes, sir." He said, not making any mention of what he was currently _staring_ at and just continued to act like he wasn't looking at the ugliest thing he had ever seen. "Uh, you know, I've been meaning to take care of that. As a matter of fact…"

In a flash and with a silent grunt, Dean threw open his car door, slamming it into the officer's gut. Paulson fell back a few steps, grimacing and grabbing his now sore stomach. Dean got out quickly and started laying a few punches into Paulson's face, ignoring his brother's cries of protest or his sister trying to stop Sam.

By the time the younger Winchesters came around to Dean, he had shoved the demon blade straight through the demon's head, watching his eyes flash and eventually the life go out of him. Melody lowered her hands after having to nearly shove Sam back to prevent him from intervening. Luckily when he saw that Paulson was actually a demon, he calmed down a bit.

Bobby—not far behind them—had driven up, screeching to a halt behind the cop car. He jogged up to find a dead body, a panting Dean, a calm Melody and a tense Sam. "What the hell happened?" he asked the Winchesters staring down at the body.

Sam let out a shaking breath, "Dean just killed a demon." He looked down at the body too, "I…I thought Melody was the only one who could sense them."

"Yeah," she agreed looking up at her brother, "how'd you know?"

Dean, still breathing a bit heavy from the fight—air escaping his mouth in white puffs—stared at his siblings, feeling the all too familiar fear creep across his skin, "I just knew. I could see its face—its _real_ face—under that one."

Melody was honestly surprised. Dean—well more like Bobby—had revealed to them earlier that he had been having hallucinations. Dean however, did not go into detail about them but from what Melody could gather, it was some pretty freaky stuff he was seeing.

In a tense, hastened silence, they all started to get to work on moving the body back into the car. Once that was over, they killed the engine, destroyed the dashcam and started moving the police car off the road. The Winchesters and Bobby were working on covering up the car with as much brush and leaves as they possibly could. Sam placed a large piece onto the hood of the car and looked at his brother,

"So you're seeing demons now?"

"I've been seeing all kinds of things lately, but nothing like this." He and Melody hefted a large tree branch onto the trunk of the car. Bobby turned for another branch and shrugged,

"Actually it's not all that crazy."

Melody stopped her movements, "And…_how_ is it not that crazy?"

"Well, you've got just over five hours to go?" Bobby questioned looking at the oldest Winchester, "You're piercing the veil, Dean, glimpsing the "B" side."

"Oh…weird…" Melody mumbled crossing her arms over her stomach, trying to fight off the cold air. She hadn't put on any jacket so was left in her ratty concert shirt, red flannel and leather vest. And the flannel was worn and thin with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She really hadn't been thinking this through when they left.

Dean glanced at her, confused and then at Sam silently asking for help. Sam however was just as confused. Dean shook his head, "Little less new-agey please."

"You're almost hell's bitch, so you can see hell's other bitches." Bobby answered flatly, and Dean just smiled at him sarcastically.

"Thanks Bobby."

Melody shrugged, "You asked for clarity."

The oldest just glanced at her, giving her his "bite me" glare and returned to piling more leaves onto the car. Sam had stopped in his movements and tried to help his brother see the positive side of this new discovery, "It'll actually come in pretty handy."

"Oh, well," Dean hefted up another branch, "I'm glad my doomed soul's good for something."

Melody clenched her jaw and fought back any clipping, angry comments she had going through her mind. They only had five hours, she'd like for her brother's last few hours to be at least not filled with sibling fights. "Dam right it is," she heard Bobby agree with Sam, "Lilith's probably got demons stashed all over town. We can't let 'em sound the alarm. If she knows we're here, we're dead before we started."

"Wow, this is a terrific plan. I'm excited to be a part of it." Dean gave that sarcastic grin again then waved his hands around, "Now, can we go please?"

* * *

"It's the little girl," Dean said handing over his binoculars to his sister so she could have a look, "God her face is…awful."

Melody watched the scene unfold. It looked innocent…sort of. The parents were serving their daughter cake but their faces and movements were that of a pair of terrified, tortured people. The little girl, a tiny, yellow haired, rounded, baby faced girl looked innocent. But…there was just something. Maybe it was because of Dean but she could almost tell.

Sam let out a short breath, "Alright, then let's go. We're wasting time."

He moved past everyone, heading for the exit but Dean's hand shot out, stopping him in his tracks, "Wait."

"For what?" Melody asked him, concerned. Sam was just impatient,

"We just gonna wait for her to kill the rest of them?"

"Yeah, and us too if we're not careful." Dean clipped back at him. He turned his head back to the window, gesturing out of is with a nod of his head, "Look. See the real go-getter mailman on the clock at nine p.m.?"

Melody and Sam both held up their binoculars, finding the mail man Dean was talking about. "And Mr. Rogers over there." Dean pointed out another person and Melody followed, seeing a man in a pale sweater with a pipe reading a large book.

"Demons?" Bobby asked and Dean just gave a sullen nod,

"Yes."

"Eugh," Melody grimaced lowering her binoculars, "I never liked Mr. Rogers…always creeped me out a little…probably because of those damn puppets."

She glanced back, getting deadpanned looks from all three of the men behind her and shrugged, chewed her lip and mumbled "sorry" before turning back to scope out the rest of the neighborhood. Sam shook off what he had just heard his sister say and got back to the business at hand,

"Okay, fine, we ninja past those guys. Sneak in."

"And what?" Dean asked him looking at his brother in the eye, "Give a Columbian necktie to a ten year old girl? Come on."

Sam sighed, "Look Dean, I know it's awful—"

"You think?" Dean shot in but Sam just ignored him and kept going.

"This isn't just about saving you, Dean. This is about saving everybody."

Dean couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. "She's gotta be stopped son." He glanced over his shoulder, having heard Bobby's opinion on the matter. Dean then looked to his sister, already knowing what she would say from the way she let out a slow breath through her nose.

Melody glanced at the floor, nodded, the looked back up at her big brother, "We have to." Dean saw her jaw clench, knew she hated it as much as he did and knew that they were all right. He looked back out the window and let out a sharp breath,

"Dammit."

* * *

_Dun dun dun! It's happening in the next chapter...omg I might have a panic attack like Melody...gah! Waah! Dean! Okay...okay I'm...I'm okay now._

_Btw does anyone else have or know of a cat that snores when it sleeps? My cat totally does and he's doing it right now sitting in my lap...it's cute and annoying. Eh random..._

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	27. As The Clock Strikes Twelve

**Ok um...can i just go cocoon myself in my sheets and hold my kitty cat while i try to think happy thoughts again? The feels...the FEELS! Honestly...I cried when I wrote this chapter...not just a few tears but like, how i cry when i sit down to watch Steal Magnolias with my bestie. That kind of crying. Ugh...I need some ice cream, that always helps with the feels.**

**So yeah fair warning, you might need a tissue or...several...there are a TON of Winchesterfeels at the end. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

"This is possibly the most reckless thing we've ever attempted." Melody grumbled, standing in a slightly bent forward position, balancing on the balls of her feet, fists clenching and unclenching. Her younger brother, Sam, stood just behind her next to the quiet, empty house with the demon knife gripped tightly in his hand.

"Well it was either this or literally storm the gates." He whispered back harshly. Melody opened her mouth, ready to give him back her best bitch face and equally bitchy comment but froze when they heard heavy footsteps coming towards them. Her older brother, Dean sprinted around the corner and before she could have any second thoughts Melody went with their plan.

Dean had lured the mail man to them and Melody was supposed to distract him—quietly—while Sam went around and killed him from behind. Thinking quickly, Melody grabbed the demon by the arms and headbutted him, sending him back a half step. Melody sent a solid right hook across the demon's jaw and he fell backwards again. Sam took his chance, running up and thrusting Ruby's knife into the demon's stomach.

The mail man grunted loudly but it was quickly muffled by Dean who ran up behind him and covered the demon's gaping mouth. It took a while for the demon to die, his body flashing with light internally—like the flickering of a dying candle light—and a few wisps of smoke and embers flew from his open mouth. Eventually the body went limp and Dean slowly lowered it to the ground.

Methodically, the killed Mr. Rogers and hid the body, not saying a word to each other. Dean ran ahead to scout out any more demons. Before he could blink, he felt himself being grabbed and shoved, face first, into the chain link fence in front of him. "I'd like my knife back please." Ruby growled, tightening her fingers on him, "Or your neck snaps like a chicken bone."

Sam and Melody spotted her and Dean. The youngest with the knife still in his hands ran up behind the demon and held the blade against her skin, "He doesn't have it. Take it easy."

Slowly, Ruby released Dean and backed up a few steps. Melody, unable to control her temper, growled, felt her rage power up and pulled back her fist before punching Ruby square across the jaw. Ruby's head snapped to the side as she grunted in surprise. The demon turned to face the golden haired hunter, "What the fuck was that for?"

Melody grinned when she saw blood coming out of the demon's mouth and shrugged, "Felt like it. And you threatened my brother…big mistake stinky." She wrinkled her nose at the smell coming off of Ruby. It was just unpleasant, and made Melody hate her even more.

Thankfully, Dean and Sam both didn't argue or complain to their sister about what she had just done. Dean even felt a tiny ounce of pride for her sister. Sam, although he appreciated his sister's actions as well, knew that they couldn't get into more fights right now and instead held out a hand and pulled his sister back a few steps, sending the demon a warning glance.

"How the hell did you get out?" Dean asked her, rubbing his now sore jaw from where it had hit the metal fence.

Ruby regarded him coldly, wiped and spit up the blood from her mouth and let out a sharp breath, "What you don't know about me could fill a book."

Dean stared at her for a moment. "Oh…" he quickly averted his eyes.

"What?" Ruby asked impatiently.

"Nothing. I just uh…" Dean kept looking at her and looking away, "I couldn't see you before, but you are one ugly broad."

Melody crossed her arms, "From the way she smells I'd believe it." The demon stared at both her and Dean, choosing to not say or do anything knowing it would just fuel their fires even more and instead looked at the youngest,

"Sam, give me the knife before you hurt yourself." Melody rolled her eyes but decided not to say anything to Ruby knowing full well that she would just start a whole fist fight. And as much as melody wanted a rematch she knew they had more important things to do.

"You'll get it back when this is over." Sam said calmly to her.

Ruby just shook her head, "It's already over. I gave you a way to save Dean. You shot me down. Now it's too late. He's dead. And I'm not gonna let you die, too."

"Try and stop me," Sam threatened, "and I'll kill you bitch."

"Hit me with your best shot, baby." Ruby challenged leaning towards him. Melody snarled again, eyes flashing into silver orbs for a second,

"Don't make me kill you, cause I'd really, _really_ like to."

Ruby stepped up to Melody, "You know what I'm getting real tired of your—"

"Guys, guys! Hey." Dean hissed at the group, stopping their arguments. "Have your little catfight later." They all followed his eyes and froze. Melody counted, five…no six demons all coming out of their homes staring straight at the gathered group.

"So much for the element of surprise." Melody half chuckled, half groaned and felt Sam reach around her and open up the chain link fence.

"Let's go. Run, run!" He saw Dean take off and then lightly pushed Melody after him with Ruby not far behind. Sam took up the rear. They ran for the house they knew Lilith was going to be in and stopped in front of the door. Sam kneeled down and frantically started picking the lock as fast as he could.

"Sam…" Melody called back to him, fists clenching as the large group of demons, now more than six ran towards the house.

"I know," Sam said, hands steady but his voice was shaking nervously, "I'm going as fast as I can."

Dean glanced around the yard and neighborhood, "Where the hell is Bobby?"

As if in answer, the sprinkler system came on. A pair of demons snarled and ran through the sprinklers, only to scream and yelp as their skin began to burn. Melody smiled, relieved. Holy water…that made genius, her uncle had turned the entire sprinkler system into a holy water delivery service.

"Atta boy Bobby." Dean grinned, shuffling his sister into the house as Sam now had more time to relax and open up the door. They all stepped inside and froze in their tracks. In the foyer, a stiff, dead body of an old woman laid across the wood floors. Melody could tell she had been dead a few days, as a few flies buzzed around the woman's ears.

"You think Lilith knows we're here?" Melody asked no one in particular, glancing around the house searching for any other signs of life.

"Probably," Ruby answered her glancing up the stair case. Sam gestured for them to follow, and led the way through a seating room, demon blade held out in front of him. Dean took up the rear, keeping a hand placed lightly on his sister's shoulder.

They both stopped though, having heard a small creaking sound like a door was being opened. Before she could think of the possibilities, Dean whipped around and grabbed the balding man who had come out of his hiding place in the armoire. With a hand over the man's mouth, Dean whispered quickly,

"Shh. Shh…we're here to help okay?" The bald man whimpered behind Dean's hand while the hunter continued, "I'm gonna move my hand, and we're gonna talk nice and quiet okay?"

Slowly Dean removed his hand and thankfully the man did as he was asked, keeping quiet. "Sir," Sam asked, "where is your daughter?"

The father just shook his head, "It's not…it's not her anymore."

"Where is she?" Sam asked again, this time a bit more urgently.

"Upstairs," the man answered, "in her bedroom."

Melody gently touched his shoulder, "Okay, listen…you need to go down to the basement okay? Put a line of salt on the door behind you."

He quickly shook his head, "Not without my wife."

Dean just clenched his jaw, not wanting to deal with this or having the time to deal with it, "Yes without your wife." The father went to protest and argue but Dean just elbowed him in the face, knocking the guy out cold. As he went to put the man down into the basement, Sam, Ruby and Melody all went up to the second floor to find Lilith.

Ruby had gone off into one room by herself to search and left Sam and Melody in the hall. The youngest went to the nearest door, pressed his ear to it and heard quiet whimpering. Stepping back, he slowly opened up the door and stepped inside the room.

Light pink walls, flower paintings, and a pink canopy bed laid in the center. Melody stood right behind her brother following him into the room. They could see two forms lying in the bed. One, a woman in a blue shirt and the other…a little blonde girl. Melody moved around the bed to the side the mother was laying, Sam with the knife in his hands went around to where the little girl—Lilith was sleeping.

Slowly, Melody and Sam pulled back the sheer pink curtains of the canopy bed giving them both a clearer view of the occupants. The mother was staring up at her and Sam, whimpering and crying. Sam pulled up the knife, hesitating but knowing full well that this had to be done.

"Do it…" the mother whimpered at him. Lilith shifted in her sleep, "Do it." The woman repeated. Melody saw Sam's scared, sorrowful eyes and gave him a warning look, telling him with her eyes that she would do it if he couldn't. And Sam knew she would too. "Do it!" the mother begged, whispering harshly as Sam began to shake. "Do it!" Lilith shifted again, "Do it!" the woman all but yelled getting the little girl to wake up. "Hurry!"

The little girl shrieked when she saw the large, hulking man standing by her bed holding up a knife. Sam steeled himself, clenched his jaw and held up the knife. He pulled back, aiming for Lilith's chest, ignoring her screams and threw down his arm.

"Wait!" Sam felt Dean grab his wrist, stopping his movements, "Wait! It's not her!" The little girl was sobbing, wide eyed, mouth agape and staring at the men by her bed. "It's not in the girl anymore."

* * *

"Alright no matter what you hear," Dean said to the mother of the family who had unfortunately been dragged into all of this as he led her down the stairs and towards the basement, "you, your husband, and your daughter stay in the basement."

He pushed her and her daughter further towards the basement and Melody followed her younger brother and Ruby towards the main sitting room. "Well," Ruby sighed, "I hate to be a told-you-so."

Melody clenched her jaw, "Alright Ruby, where is she?"

"I don't know." The demon answered honestly. Sam glanced down at her,

"Could she get past the sprinklers?"

Ruby scoffed as they came into the living room, "Her pay grade, she ain't sweating the holy water."

"Okay. You win." Sam stopped them staring down at the demon, "What do I have to do?"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"To save Dean." Sam threw out his arms, "What do you need me to do?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dean questioned his brother as he came around the corner having caught the end of the conversation. He grabbed Sam's arm harshly seeing Melody tense up on the other side of Sam.

The youngest fought off his brother's hold, "Just shut up for a second." He yanked his arm out of Dean's hold, "Ruby!"

"You had your chance." Ruby said facing the Winchesters but staring directly at Sam, "You can't just flip a switch. We needed time."

"No…no there's got to be something. There is always something," Melody almost begged for an answer and heard Sam doing the same,

"There's got to be some way. What…whatever it is—I'll do it." Dean had heard enough and grabbed his brother again. Sam fought and struggled against his brother's grip, "Don't—Dean! I'm not gonna let you go to hell, Dean!"

"Yes you are!" Dean screamed, stopping his brother, "Yes you are." He repeated in a quieter tone. "I'm sorry. I mean, this is all my fault. I know that. But what you're doing, it's not gonna save me. It's only gonna kill you."

Melody felt her jaw tighten, "Dean…"

Sam glanced down at his sister seeing her fighting against the emotions and then looked back at his brother, "What are we supposed to do?"

"Keep fighting." Dean answered, "And take care of my wheels." His attempt at humor failed, and Dean decided it was too late to try and weasel out of a chick flick moment. So he went for honesty, "You two remember what dad taught you…"

The other Winchesters nodded, Melody now had a few tears falling down her cheeks and her chin quivered as she tried to fight them. "And remember what I taught you." Dean finished, seeing Sam's eyes brimming with tears of his own.

Melody couldn't fight back anymore and let out a quiet whimper, then went to her brother. She leaned her head against his chest, gripping the fabric of his jacket in her hands tightly. Dean wrapped his arms around his sister, giving his brother a loose, half smile and bowing his head to kiss the top of his sister's hair gently.

The large grandfather clock stroke twelve long, ominous chimes then. Melody pulled back from Dean, moving to stand next to Sam and gripping his hand tightly. The tears flowed freely down her cheeks now, Sam was quickly losing control of his own tears as the Winchesters all watched each other in anxious fear.

"I'm sorry Dean." Ruby said from the other side of the room, "I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy."

Dean stared at her, surprised at the sort of sentiment he got from her. The first somewhat nice thing Ruby had ever said to him. And then he heard it. Low, terrible growling coming from the other side of the room. Melody followed where her brother's eyes had landed, but she didn't see anything. She could certainly smell something though. It was absolutely putrid. A mixture of a wet dog, death and brimstone. It was…awful. Melody had never smelled anything worse before in her life. And she thought normal demons smelled bad.

"What is it?" Sam asked, seeing both his brother's fearful eyes and his sister grimace as she covered up her mouth and nose.

"Hellhound." Dean answered, eyes never leaving the monster.

"Where?" Sam looked around not seeing it at all. Dean slowly raised his hand and pointed,

"There." Before they could blink, they all heard a distinct snarl and loud barking. They all took off running down the hall, hearing the hellhound growl and it's long claws clip against the wood floor. Dean ran through into a second sitting room and felt Melody close behind him.

Sam and Ruby shut the doors, holding them closed while Dean and Melody fished out their bags of goofer dust. Dean ran over to the door and quickly piled a line against it, using his shoulder to help keep the door closed. He finished up with the line, and heard the hellhound slowly retreat. Melody ran up to a window and started pouring a line of goofer dust along the seal.

As Dean and Melody worked on the rest of the room, Ruby turned to Sam, "Give me the knife. Maybe I can fight it off."

Sam held the knife a little tighter, "What?"

"Come on!" Ruby cried desperately, "That dust won't last forever." Melody threw her empty bag off to the side, feeling Dean step up next to her. She smelled something…different. It wasn't the normal stale, dead smell she got whiffs of when she was around Ruby.

Now she smelled sulfur. Pure sulfur. That's different, Melody though feeling Dean tense up as Sam started to hand the knife back to the demon. "Wait!" Dean called out staring at Ruby, "Sam…that's not Ruby. It's not Ruby!"

Sam looked back at her, froze for a half second then reared back, knife aimed at her heart. She back handed Sam, stopping his attack and Melody watched him get thrown up against the wall staying there, pinned by some force.

Melody snarled and ran up to the demon, tried to punch her in the jaw like before. Only this time the demon was faster and much stronger than before. The demon back handed Melody across the face. Melody fell backwards and looked at the demon again only to find herself flying towards the wall Sam was pinned to. They both grunted and watched in horror as the demon threw out her hands at Dean, sending him flying back to land on top of a table.

"How long have you been in her?" Dean questioned the demon. Then Melody realized…it was Lilith.

"Not long…" Lilith grinned and looked down at her body, "but I like it. It's all grown-up and pretty." She turned her face upwards again, her eyes had changed into pale white, cloudy orbs. Melody noticed it looked a little similar to her eyes when she activated her powers but…hers were always a lot more…glowy.

"And where's Ruby?" Sam asked the demon.

"She was a very bad girl, so I sent her far, far away." Lilith's eyes returned to normal, and her neck did a creepy, snapping sound as she emphasized her last two words.

"You know, I should have seen it before." Dean grinned, "But you all look alike to me."

"Tell me," Melody said getting Lilith's attention, "do all demons smell bad naturally? Or do you all just bathe in sewage?"

Lilith stared at her, then slowly walked up to Melody grinning widely. "Now you…are all the rage downstairs. The nephilim…first any of us have seen in quite some time" Lilith leaned in close to Melody and picked up a lock of her golden hair, "Too bad none of us can touch you. We don't really want to risk setting off the wrath of the one who created you."

Melody sniggered, "You and Yellow Eyes and the whole "real father" thing…it's—"

"Oh…you think one of them is your father?" Lilith sniffed the piece of hair she had in her fingers, twirled it around, "Everyone lies. Especially the nice ones. You were created yes…but not by who you think."

"What…what the _fuck_ are you talking about?" Melody snarled, eyes shining brightly, threateningly down at the demon. Lilith took a step back and regarded Melody like she was a piece of wall art.

"You are getting stronger. But it's not my place to tell secrets…not the ones that aren't mine anyways." Lilith grinned wickedly up at Melody, who felt all her power drain out of her. Honestly she was just shocked. First Yellow Eyes tells her all about her "real father" then she gets visited in her sleep by Michael the arc angel who claimed to be her real father and now…Lilith is saying she was created by someone else? _What_…_the_…_fuck_…

Lilith smiled at Melody's fear stricken eyes and then, flicked her head towards the youngest Winchester. "Hello Sam." She moved over to stand in front of him, "I've wanted to meet you for a very long time."

She leaned up on her toes, gripped Sam's face in her hand and kissed him. Melody could see Sam struggling against the kiss and grimaced. Lilith pulled back, "Your lips are soft."

Sam didn't look her in the eye, and instead stared at the ceiling, "Alright so you have me." He shook off Lilith's fingers from his chin and stared down at her, "Let my brother go."

"Silly goose." Lilith said in a chastising tone, "You want to bargain, you have to have something that I want." She made a few tsk noises with her tongue, "You don't…and neither does big sis."

"So is this your big plan huh?" Dean asked her from his spot on the table, the force was holding him down on its surface and he struggled against it, "Drag me to hell, kill Sam—maybe even my sister—and then what…become queen bitch?"

"I don't have to answer to puppy chow." Lilith purred at him. She walked away from Sam towards the doors leading into the room. She put her hand on the knob and smiled wickedly, "Sic em boy." She pulled open the door and immediately a blast of cold, stale air came into the room.

Lilith laughed as the hellhounds barked and growled. Dean yelled in fear and was pulled off the table, claws beginning to dig into his legs and arms. Melody screamed, eyes burning with tears as she watched, completely useless to help, as her brother was ripped apart by the hellhounds.

Sam cried out just as loudly as his sister, "No! Stop!"

Dean screamed in agony, blood beginning to pour out of his chest and arms. "Dean!" Melody cried, "No! You _fucking_ _bitch_ stop!" she growled through her tears at Lilith, feeling her powers come up again but she was all but useless pinned to the wall.

"Stop it!" Sam screeched, begging Lilith to put an end to it. "No!" he heard Melody sob next to him and scream even louder. Dean fell onto his back and cried out again, more and more claw marks digging into his chest as blood poured out and bubbled over his skin.

"Dean! God dammit! Stop!"

"Stop it! Stop!" Melody and Sam both screamed, begging Lilith for it all to end. "No!" Sam cried again watching his brother's screams slowly begin to fade and his body go limp.

Lilith grinned at them, "Yes." She raised her hand and bright white light poured out of it, blinding both Melody and Sam. Melody felt herself fall off the wall, and then felt Sam grab her and cover up face with his arm, burying her head into his chest.

The light faded, and Melody felt herself shaking from the adrenaline. Slowly, she and Sam looked up from their spot against the wall, unharmed. Lilith was standing in front of them, eyes rolling back to normal, stunned shock written on her face. Sam, realizing his chance, stood up from the floor, pulling Melody up with him.

She stood behind him, realizing this is what Ruby must have been talking about…or…maybe. But she knew when she wasn't needed. "Back," Lilith weakly threw out her hand to Sam but he did not move, only got closer to her, "I said back." Lilith tried again, fear crawling across her features as she started to shake.

Sam bent down and picked up the discarded knife, "I don't think so." He pulled back his arm, aiming for Lilith's heart. Before he could swing, Lilith threw back her head, screaming at the top of her lungs as thick black smoke poured out of her mouth and into the vents.

Almost as soon as it had begun, Lilith had left. The now empty body fell to the floor, limp…probably dead. But Sam and Melody only had eyes for their brother. Sam let the knife clatter to the floor, felt his sister barrel past him and saw her kneel down next to Dean's now lifeless body.

She shook him, "Dean! Dean, come on!" Melody started sobbing, shoulders shaking violently, "God dammit you selfish son of a bitch! Don't do this to me! You hear me?! You can't do this to us! You get that?! Get up! Fight you piece of shit bastard! Fucking fight it! Dean!" Melody screamed, bowed her head and sobbed uncontrollably in loud, blubbering fits.

Sam was more reserved and quiet. He kneeled down next to Melody, further up Dean's body. Melody was kneeled down next to his legs; Sam was now next to Dean's head. "No…" Sam whispered, afraid to say anything too loud. Gingerly, he reached down and picked up his brother's head, holding it up. Dean's eyes were open, but they weren't looking at anything. "No…Dean."

His tears fell freely then, body quivering. Gently, he set down his brother's head again and felt Melody claw at his jacket. Sam let out a loud sob, turned to face his sister and pulled her to him. She buried her face into his shoulder and felt Sam's large hand grip onto her vest and shirt. "Sam he…he's…"

And that was all they said to each other. For the next half hour, big sister and little brother sat on the floor holding each other and cried together. Neither said a word, neither dared to move and neither of them could find the strength to look at their big brother's body again. They just wept with each other, seeking comfort…a solid ground…a rock…a shelter in the storm.

* * *

_Wah! I need to go curl up in a corner right now! ALSO besides the fact that I practically ripped your hearts out of your chests...Lilith shed some new light on Melody's "father" or as she called him her "creator" hmmmm...I wonder what she could have meant by that *wink* (I do cause I have a plan and it's awesome!) :D_

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	28. The Aftermath and The Reunion

**So this got long haha. Be prepared, there are Winchesterfeels and plenty of sibling fights ahead. And I'm pretty sure next chapter is the chapter where (insert fangirl squee) CASTIEL comes in! AH! I am sooooo excited! I've made my decision on where and what I'm going to do with the Melody/Castiel thing. And boy is it a doozy! So many plot twists! Bah, okay I'll let you get on with this chapter. And GET EXCITED BECAUSE CASTIEL!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

It had been two days since Dean died, and Melody had yet to say a word outside of arguing with her brother. Her and Sam were at Bobby's place, going through the motions not really hunting or trying anymore. They still hadn't burned Dean's body, like Melody and Bobby both wanted to do. It was only right. Dean was a hunter…he deserved a hunter's funeral. But Sam would not hear of it.

This particular evening was no different. Sam bounded down the steps, his sister close behind him as she sighed, "Sam…please it's what he would want."

The youngest went into the kitchen and pulled out a beer from the fridge, "You don't know that." He grumbled popping off the top and taking a large gulp from the bottle. Melody slowly walked up to him,

"Look…I'm not trying to tell you what to do—"

"Why because you're the oldest now?" Sam asked, eyes growing dark. Melody just clenched her jaw and took in a deep breath counting back from ten.

"No…no that's not what I'm doing. Sam, we're family. We're all we have left and the only way me and you are going to be able to stick together is if we work this out. Please I…Dean is gone. It's horrible and shitty and I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest but…but we have to carry on."

"So we just burn his remains? Leave him to rot in hell and not do anything to try and get him out?" Sam threw out his arms, exasperated. "Come on Mel. He's our brother we can't just leave him down there."

"Dammit Sam there's nothing we can do for him!" Melody shouted fists clenching as all of her frustrations, her depression and every other emotion came boiling up to the surface. "Dean. Is. Dead. He's gone, and no power on this useless rock can bring him back!"

"You don't know that!" Sam screamed at her, set down his beer glass firmly and walked out of the kitchen. Melody followed after him, not finished with him.

Deciding that—even if she hated it—she had to use her authority as the oldest sibling now. She reached out, grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. For a moment, Sam marveled at his sister's strength. She was only five foot seven and thin but she packed a powerful punch. "Hey! Okay you're right, I'm the oldest now, and I say we are going to burn Dean's body! I can't just sit around and wait for him to rot while you go gallivanting to wherever the hell you're thinking of just so you can search for a lost cause!"

Sam yanked his arm out of her hold. He knew she was probably right. And he knew there was a one in a million chance of him finding a way to bring Dean back. But Sam would not and could not accept that. And he needed his sister to either help him or get out of the way. Seeing her face now, the determination in her eyes…Sam knew he'd rather have her out of the way. So he went for the low blows and started to push her away with his words. Hurting her intentionally…and killing himself on the inside for what he was about to say.

"You don't love him." Sam growled at her which caused a flash of shock to fall over her soft features. Melody stepped back from him,

"What?"

Sam raised his voice, "You don't love him! How can you call yourself his sister when you aren't even fighting to get him back?! You know what? You never really fought for any of us. When dad went missing sure you searched for him, but you only did it because Dean wanted to. When dad died? You just let it happen, you didn't fight. And now that Dean's gone? You're not fighting again!"

He pulled back slightly, regarded her in cold, quiet fury, "I bet you didn't even fight for me—"

_SMACK_

Sam's face whipped to the side, cheek burning and slowly turning a faint shade of pink. Melody had slapped him across the face so hard, even her hand was starting to throb in pain. She ignored it and just stared up at her little brother, all evidence of hurt from what he had said to her gone. Instead, silent fury was written across her face and she breathed hard through her nose.

"Fuck you." She said in quiet, barely contained rage. She opened her mouth to say something else but decided against it and instead brushed past him and slammed open the front door. Sam, realizing what he had just done but not acknowledging it glanced over his shoulder at her. "Where are you going?"

"Far away from you!" she screamed at him from the porch, "You know what? Bury Dean, burn him, do whatever the _fuck_ you want! I'm done! See you again _never_ Sam!"

Melody turned and sprinted down the porch to the main garage. Dean's Impala was sitting there; Bobby's mustang was just outside of the garage and next to the Impala sat a 1969 Dodge Charger in a deep royal blue. It had always been her car, though Melody had only ever driven the car three other times. But Bobby had always kept it for her whenever she needed it.

And now she needed it. She could hear Sam calling out for her, but she ignored him and ran to the Impala. Throwing open the backseat doors she reached in and grabbed her bags that she had left there. She hadn't even bothered to move her stuff inside Bobby's home thinking that she and Sam would be back on the road fairly soon. She popped open the Impala's trunk, stuffed her weapons into her duffle bag. One long silver hunting knife, one iron knife, two pistols—a 1911 and a compact 9mm—and a sawed off shotgun. She grabbed a handful of ammo, knowing she could just make her own later and slammed the trunk down.

"Melody?" she glanced up, it was Bobby. He was walking towards the garage, concern written on his face. She didn't want to deal with him or have to deal with the awkward goodbyes. So she sprinted around to the driver side of her Charger, got in the driver's seat and let out a sigh of relief. Bobby had even left the keys on the dash for her.

Quickly, she spurred the engine to life, put it into drive and slammed her foot down on the gas petal. The blue Charger pealed out of the garage, sending dirt and dust flying everywhere even a few specks into Bobby.

As she drove off down the road, glancing back to make sure nobody was following her she pressed her foot even harder onto the gas petal. She didn't know where she was going, didn't even know what she was going to do. But she knew one thing. She was not going to be Melody Jean Winchester anymore. That girl could be dead for all she cared.

* * *

_May 21, 2008_

_I've been on the road for a couple of weeks now. I'm not too sure where I'm going. I've just been driving. Stopping at a few rest stops, having idle conversations with people. I went to a bar last night, but I couldn't bring myself to drink anything. It was weird. Normally I can drink whatever I want whenever I want but…something just made me not want anything. I mean even the bartender was pretty damn cute, I could have gotten him easy but…even with that I just didn't care. Dammit Sam…why the hell did he say those things to me? What the hell is his fucking problem? I do care. I love Dean, and I can hardly think straight knowing that he's down there in the pit suffering. I don't care about Sam though. He can do whatever the hell he wants. I'm done with him, done with being a hunter, done with everything. Maybe I'll…get a job or…something…_

* * *

_June 17, 2008_

_I got a job. Well it more fell into my lap. See I had just been driving around the country, mostly bored. There wasn't really anything for me to do so normally I would find the local library of the town I was in and just read all day. I know, not very exciting but I've missed out on so much. I was never really into reading, it was just never my thing but…I mean the things I've read! The Great Gatsby, Wuthering Heights, Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden! And so much more! I finished the entire Harry Potter series in two weeks. I stayed in this one small town, checked out the whole series and just read the books. I hardly left the motel room. Then I checked out from another town The Hobbit. I have actually read that one before when I was a kid. And I wanted to read it again. Then and technically now, I ended up in Nebraska. _

_Well I found the local library. Tiny little place but they had a pretty large selection. Anyways I checked out The Fellowship of the Ring because well, I have seen the movies and since I've read The Hobbit I figured I read the other books too. So I had the book and right down the street is this tiny little diner. I go in there, intending to get lunch and just read but somehow I ended up getting a job. I don't know, maybe I'm just tired of being on the run. Maybe I'm just bored and need something to do. Maybe I miss Dean too much…maybe I miss Sam…_

* * *

_July 25, 2008_

_Update on the job…I hate it. I mean, it's decent work. I'm on my feet all damn day (waitress) and I have to deal with people and I've never been too fond of people, but everybody tips really well. I'm still living out of a motel room. I pay monthly for the room so it's basically like an apartment, only the owner of the building said that the only way I could stay in the room for that long is if I cleaned it myself. I don't mind. Honestly the more work I have the less I time I have to think about my past. Oh and I finished up Fellowship of the Ring and am half way through The Two Towers. What a series! I can't believe I've spent my whole life not reading! I blame Dean…_

_Dean…here I go thinking about him. I called Bobby again today. We talk at least twice a week. I keep him updated and he does the same for me. He hasn't heard from Sam at all, neither have I. Bobby told me that they ended up burying Dean in Pontiac, Illinois which is about six hours from where I am. Maybe I'll find out from Bobby exactly where Dean is and I'll go see him. I won't leave flowers though…he'd say it was too girly for him._

* * *

_August 30, 2008_

_I still haven't mustered up the courage to go see Dean's grave. Bobby told me where to find it but I just…can't. It's too hard, the memories are still painful. All I can see is Dean writhing on the floor screaming and crying while the hellhounds dig into him, and me pinned to the damn wall…useless. I have nightmares about it. What little sleep I can get. At most, on a good night, I'll get up to four…maybe five hours of sleep. It's not so bad, I'm used to it by now. _

_There was a pretty nice man in the diner today though. I forgot his name, but he sat at the diner all morning and drank coffee while he read the paper. I had a decent conversation with him too. Just talking about this and that. He didn't ask anything personal of me, and I didn't ask anything back. He would scoff, point out something in the paper and then we would talk about it for a while. His favorite part seemed to be when he got to the comic strips. _

_Well this is where it gets weird. I turn around to help somebody and I look back…and he's gone. Coffee mug is just sitting there, half empty and the paper neatly folded. I asked my co-worker Heather where the guy had gone and she just stared at me like I had grown a second head. She said that there had been nobody sitting there. I showed her the coffee and the paper but she insisted that there hadn't been anyone. I mean…I don't even go by Melody Winchester anymore and still this freaky stuff seems to find me. I need a drink._

* * *

"Two burgers leave em bloody with everything!" Jamie Lynn shouted back at the cooks, placing the meal ticket where they would see it. The waitress turned around going to the counter and wiping it down quickly. It was around brunch time, most of the locals were either finishing up their meals or just coming in. The lunch rush was about to begin.

"Excuse me miss?" Jamie looked up and saw the same man who had been coming into the diner for over a month in his usual spot. She smiled warmly at him, turned for the coffee pot and looked back letting out a small breath of relief when she saw he hadn't disappeared again,

"Made it myself." She winked at him and smiled brightly, using her looks to her advantage. She basically lived on tips now a days, having refused to use her older ways of earning money or…stealing money.

"Jamie, order up for table five!" the cook, Levi shouted over the noise of the grills, ringing the bell. It shrilled and pierced the semi-calm atmosphere of the diner. Jamie picked up the plates, not really feeling the heat slowly burn her skin. She was used to it by now anyways.

She delivered the food, wiped down a few empty tables and went back behind the counter attending to her other customers at the bar. The bell above the door jingled, letting her know someone had walked in. She glanced up and grinned, her co-worker, Heather, had just walked in. Jamie looked up at the red head and sighed, "Late again red."

"What can I say? Jake just couldn't keep his hands off me." Heather grinned mischievously as she wrapped a stained apron around her waist.

Jamie just sighed, "Well at least pull your hair back today. You scared this kid half to death yesterday when he found a hair on his table." She whispered not wanting to draw attention from the other customers.

"Oh come on," Heather grumbled but did as she was told and started pulling her hair into a messy pony tail. She stared at her co-worker's golden hair; it was pinned back into her normal neat bun. "You know Jamie, I've never seen you outside of work. Why is that?"

The blonde just shrugged, refilled another customer's coffee mug, "Guess you could call me a bit of a loner."

"Oh come on. A hot piece like you could get anybody she wants. And with that car of yours," Heather gestured to the deep blue Dodge Charger sitting in the parking lot, "I bet all the guys just beg for your attention."

Jamie just laughed at her friend and moved to attend her tables. Jamie made her way back to the end of the bar where her usual customer still sat with the paper in his hands. "Anything good today?" She asked him leaning against the bar.

He just shrugged, "Oh the usual. World's about to end, the apocalypse is near, people disappearing and reappearing," he folded up the paper, "love brewing and friendships being rekindled. Families finding each other…you know. Normal day on planet Earth, and it's only September eighteenth! There's so much more ahead."

"It sounds pretty exciting," Jamie grinned at him. She was used to this by now. He always talked like this. In half riddles and half-truths. She didn't mind, she enjoyed the easy conversations with him. Jamie wiped at the bar idly and glanced up at him, "You know, all this time you've been sitting here and I've never gotten your name."

He glanced up at her; his eyes were a pale grey and soft barely there wrinkles crimped at the edges of his eyes. He had to be in at least his late forties, with salt and pepper hair, a square jaw and pin straight nose. "Oh…I've gone by many names over the years. Many people have called me so many different things, some of those names have been so complex I dare not to try and speak them myself." He smiled at her, "But…I suppose for now you can call me…Bill."

Jamie grinned, "Alright Bill. You got a last name?"

"Nope," Bill grinned. He reached back and pulled out a tan wallet. It looked fresh, like it had never been used before. He flipped open the leather, and started picking out several different pieces of cash. So much that it soon turned into a large wad of money. Bill held out the green pile to her, "Here."

"Uh…" Jamie hesitated, "are you sure you want to give me this big of a tip?"

Bill shook the money, "Of course I am. Today is a big day for you, your whole life is about to change. You're gonna need the spare cash, trust me." He winked and Jamie hesitantly took the money from his fingers. Jamie started counting the money, stopped half-way and looked back up. Bill was gone and in his place sat the coffee mug and paper. But…there was something different now. On top of the newspaper was a folded up note.

Jamie picked it up, glanced around and saw that no one was watching. She unfolded the note. It read:

_Forgiveness is the hardest thing to come by. It can be difficult trying to forgive those who have hurt us. But it is a valued trait. One I find to be challenging even for myself sometimes. _

_I have enjoyed our chats, you are a kind hearted, just person. Much like your mother. Your father raised you well…as did your brothers. Do not forget who you are Melody Winchester and know that everyone lies…even the most divine of creatures. The truth will be revealed to you within due time. Until then, have an open mind. You're gonna need it._

_G._

She froze, feeling a deathly cold chill consume her body. No. No way in _hell_ could he have figured out who she was. Melody stood stock still in place, feeling all of the blood drain out of her face. "Jamie?"

Melody jumped three feet in the air, "What!"

Heather stepped back, concerned and a bit surprised herself, "Jamie are you alright?" Melody shook herself, remembering then that she had been going by Jamie Lynn the entire time she was living in Omaha.

"Uh…" she stuttered then realized that she was not safe. If that guy could figure out who she was, then others would too. With shaking hands she started to pull off her apron and threw it onto the counter. "I have to…I have to go." She bent down, picked up her brown messenger bag, stuffed her money and the note inside and pulled out her car keys.

"What? Go? Go where?" Heather followed her from behind the counter. Melody started unbuttoning her uniform revealing a pair of shorts, olive green shirt and her favorite worn cowboy boots.

Melody turned to her, threw the bundled up uniform into her arms and said quickly, "Look I quit okay? Keep whatever tips I left behind the counter, they're yours. Um…" she hesitated at the door, "look I'll probably never see you again so uh…bye." Melody gave Heather a fleeting side hug and then ran out the door. She quickly unpinned her bun letting her gold hair fall around her shoulders and fell into her car.

"Okay…okay…" she breathed slowly trying to think of what her first move should be. Things, need to get my things first. She spurred her engine to life and peeled out of the parking lot. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" Melody screamed pounding her hands against the wheel. This was not supposed to happen, she was so careful!

Half an hour later, she was back in her car having thrown all of her things together into her large duffle bag and tossed it into the back seat. She had even changed into more suitable clothing. Ripped up black tights, white tank top and red plaid shirt with her leather vest over it. Melody stopped for a moment and realized it was practically the exact same outfit she had worn when Dean died four months ago. But she couldn't think about that, she needed to get out of this town and fast. She dug through her purse until she found her phone, a black sidekick she had stolen and was using a fake credit card to pay for the minutes.

Old habits die hard, she thought off handedly as she started to dial Bobby Singer. "Come on, come on!" she growled pressing the phone to her ear and driving down the road. After the third ring, the line was picked up.

_"Kid?"_

Melody let out a breath of relief, "Oh my god Bobby. Someone found out who I am."

_"What? What are you talking about?"_

"I don't know I just…he left me a note and he knew about everything. About mom and dad and…and the boys and he knew my name! Shit Bobby what the hell am I supposed to do?" she came to a red light and stopped, the engine purring at her as if to try and calm her down.

_"Alright look Melody just…just head over here alright? You ain't that far, we'll figure things out okay?"_

The light turned green, Melody pulled away from the intersection aiming for the highway not wanting to take too long and take the back roads. "Okay…okay I'm coming to you right now. I'll be there in about two hours." She hung up the phone, not bothering with goodbyes and threw the device into the passenger seat. Melody spurred the engine on, pressing her foot harder onto the pedal as she raced down the highway heading for Singer Salvage Yard.

* * *

She had gotten there fifteen minutes before she thought she would be arriving. Melody pulled her Charger into the garage, killing the engine and jumping out of the car. She left the keys on the dash, intending to leave it there for Bobby. She would probably need a new car now if someone knew who she was. She reached in the back seat, pulled out her duffle bag, hefting it onto her shoulder and grabbed her cell phone before exiting the garage.

"Bobby?" she called out jumping up the steps onto the porch. Melody walked up to the open screen door and pounded on it, "Bobby! Where are you old man? I'm here!" She was about to open up the door herself but luckily her uncle came around the corner. Melody sighed, "There you are, you have no idea what I've been dealing with today."

He silently opened the door while she rambled on, not noticing his tense shoulders or wide, slightly tearful eyes. "I mean, first there was this family that was just…awful. The kids were a pair of twerps, I mean, they kept throwing their food at each other and the damn parents weren't doing a damn thing about it."

Melody threw out her hands, dropped her bag on the floor where it gave a loud thump and put her hands on her hips. She watched the floor as she started to pace not hearing Bobby say gently, "Kid listen…"

"And then I had to clean it all up of course. Oh and get this…they only tipped me like two dollars! What the hell kind of person does that? But…let me get to the good stuff. Here," she turned kneeled down grabbing her purse out of her duffle. "See there's been this guy coming into the diner and—ah!"

Melody screamed, shrill and loud and dropped her purse its contents scattering across the floor. She threw her hands over her mouth, felt her knees start to quake and her whole body tremble.

"Hey squirt," Dean smiled brightly at her, arms at his sides as he came out of the kitchen into the room she and Bobby were standing in.

"No…no you're…" Melody backed up, legs bumping into Bobby's desk and froze in place. She shook her head back and forth, hands still covering her mouth as it gaped open. She glanced at Bobby, searching for an answer.

Her uncle nodded, "Yeah…I had basically the same reaction."

"Is…is he…?" she trembled pointing a quivering finger at Dean. Bobby just nodded again. Melody stared back at her brother. He looked…normal. No cuts, no bruises. No evidence that he had even been dead. "De…Dean? Dean you're…"

He slowly walked further into the room, "I know Mels." That set off the water works for her.

"I…I never thought I'd hear you say that again," the tears fell freely from her eyes and she felt her knees completely give out underneath her. Dean reacted quickly, and closed the distance between them running up to her and catching his sister by the arms.

"Whoa, whoa Mels…it's alright. It's okay I'm here, I'm here." Dean's voice cracked on his last word, and he started to silently cry with her. Melody let out a loud sob/laugh and threw her arms around his neck gripping at the fabric of his shirt.

"Oh my god, oh my god." Melody blubbered out of her mouth feeling Dean hold her back just as tightly. She buried her face into his shoulders. He smelled like leather and pine. "It's you! It's really you!" she cried loudly feeling Dean's smile against her hair.

"It's me Mels, I'm here—I'm not goin anywhere." He kissed the top of her gold hair and started to gently rock his sister back and forth, trying to help her calm down her tears. Several minutes passed, Melody's sobs eventually turned into quiet sniffles. Dean pulled back and gently wiped off her remaining tears, "So how's my—"

_SMACK!_

Dean fell backwards a few steps, clutching his jaw he stared at his sister with wide, hurt eyes, "Mels what the hell was that for?!"

"For dying in the first place asshole!" she screamed at him. They stared at each other for a few long moments, tense and waiting for what the other person would do. Luckily, Melody was the first to break the ice. She walked up to him and pulled him in with a side hug, wrapping her arm around his middle. "Just…don't do it again. _Please_."

A slow grin came onto her face and Dean quickly followed. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and quickly ruffled her hair. "Well, I guess I did deserve that one."

* * *

"That don't make a lick of sense." Bobby grumbled coming out of the kitchen. Melody and Dean followed him, both sticking close together.

"Yeah." Dean wiped his arm of blood where he had cut himself with a silver knife to prove he wasn't a shifter or a revenant. Bobby had even thrown holy water into his face before his sister showed up. He tossed the towel back into the kitchen behind him, "You're preaching to the choir."

Bobby stopped in front of his desk and turned to face the Winchesters. Melody had taken to standing as close to her brother as possible, nearly invading his personal space. But Dean didn't seem to mind, and kept a hand placed lightly against her back. "Dean," Bobby started to explain why it was impossible to Dean to be alive right now, "your chest was ribbons, your insides were slop, and you'd been buried four months. Even if you could slip out of hell and back into your meatsuit…"

"I know." Dean rubbed his forehead, "I should look like a "Thriller" video reject."

"Well, do you remember anything?" Melody asked looking up at him from her place next to him. She had forgotten how tall her brother was, even if her boots gave her a couple inches, Dean still stood above her by a couple inches.

"Not much…" Dean glanced down and shook his head. He took in a short breath, "I remember I was a hellhound's chew toy…and then light's out. Then I come to six feet under. That was it."

Bobby sat down in his chair while Dean said, "Sam's number's not workin—neither was your by the way." He pointed at Melody.

"Oh," she reached back and pulled out her phone from her back pocket, "I got a new one after…after you kicked the bucket."

Dean's mouth went into a small "o" as he nodded. "Well…what about Sam? Did he get a new phone too? He's…he's not…"

"No, he's alive," Bobby answered gruffly, "as far as we know."

"Good." Dean nodded and walked around the desk. He stopped half way, "Wait. What do you mean—as far as we know?"

Melody clenched her jaw, "Dean, neither of us has talked to him for months."

"You're serious?" Dean asked her and felt his eyes go wide when Melody nodded. "Mels, you just let him go off by himself?"

"I was gone before he left." She answered him and at his confused stare she clarified, "I left first."

"Melody Jean…" Dean huffed, disappointment written all over his features.

"No. No way are you going to start that." Melody grumbled pointing a finger at her brother, "You have no idea what he was like after you died. Bobby you heard the things he said to me. I couldn't be around him anymore Dean, he was completely different."

"Bobby is it true?" Dean asked their uncle, getting a nod of confirmation from the man. "Well, why did _he_ leave?"

"He was dead set on it." Bobby answered.

"You two should have been looking after him." Dean said, not accusing but merely stated. Melody threw out her hands as if in defense,

"Hey I tried alright. And so did Bobby."

"These last month's haven't been exactly easy, you know, for you brother, your sister _or_ me." Bobby explained getting up from his seat and standing by the desk across from Dean. "We had to bury you."

"Why did you bury me anyway?" Dean asked and Bobby quickly explained,

"Melody and I wanted you salted and burned—usual drill—but Sam wouldn't have it."

Dean shrugged, "Well I'm glad he won that one."

"He said you'd need a body when he got you back home somehow. That's about all he said." Bobby had already told Melody all of this over the phone. But hearing it again just made her all the more angry with her little brother. And that's when things started to turn inside her head…if Dean was alive now and Sam had said those things before…

"What do you mean?" Dean asked for clarity. Bobby moved to sit down on top of his desk,

"After he and Melody fought and she left he got…quiet. Real quiet. Then he just took off. Wouldn't return my calls. I tried to find him, but he don't want to be found."

Dean started to pace and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Dammit Sammy…"

"What?" Bobby asked growing concerned but Melody was already catching on to what Dean was thinking.

"Oh, he got me home okay." Dean answered, "But whatever he did, it is bad mojo."

Melody felt her brow scrunch up, confused she asked, "What do you mean?"

"You two should have seen the grave site. It was like a nuke went off." Her brother explained, "Then there was this—this force, this presence, that I don't know…but it…it blew past me at a fill up joint. And then this." Dean started to pull off his green flannel shirt leaving one arm exposed. He reached up and lifted the sleeve of his black t-shirt up his shoulder revealing a bright red hand print burned into his skin.

Bobby and Melody both moved in closer to examine the mark, Melody gingerly touched it. "What the hell Dean?"

He just shrugged, "Yeah it's like a demon just yanked me out or rode me out."

"But why?" Bobby questioned. Melody clenched her jaw, afraid of what her brother might say next.

"To hold up their end of the bargain." Dean said pulling his flannel back on. Bobby's brow creased,

"You think Sam made a deal?"

Dean threw out his arms, "It's what I would have done."

* * *

"Oh…this is going to be awkward…" Melody grumbled scratching at her scalp as she followed Dean and Bobby down the hall of the motel rooms. They had tracked Sam's phone to Pontiac, Illinois. Not too far from where Dean had been buried. They walked up to room "207" and Dean pounded his fist on the door.

Not long after the door was opened…by a petite brunette with dark eyes. She stared at the three of them, "So…where is it?"

"Where is what?" Dean asked her.

The girl shook her hands, "The pizza that takes…two guys and a chick to deliver."

"Right…" Melody said putting a hand on Dean's arm, "I think we got the wrong room."

She could feel Dean starting to turn around to leave with her but they all stopped when a deep, male voice came through the door, "Hey is the—"

Sam Winchester froze in his spot. He stared hard at Dean, then at his sister and then Bobby. He moved his eyes back to his brother, body starting to tremble as his breath became hitched. Dean smiled at him, "Heya Sammy."

Slowly, Dean walked past the brunette moving further into the room and closer to his little brother. Sam reacted quickly, pulling out a knife from his back pocket and swiping at Dean. Melody heard the brunette let out a sharp scream but ignored her and ran into the room pushing back her little brother with Bobby.

"Who are you?!" Sam cried as Bobby gripped him tightly. Melody stood inbetween her brothers holding out her hands towards both of them. Dean stood from his spot against the wall, feeling his sister's hand hold him back,

"Like you didn't do this!"

"Do what?!" Sam screamed, fighting against Bobby's hold.

"Sam it's him!" Melody turned her whole body to face her little brother, holding out her hands, palms towards the floor.

"It's him! It's him Sam!" Bobby struggled to hold back the six foot four hunter, "I've been through this already. It's really him."

"But…" Sam panted, calming down and Bobby slowly released him. Dean stepped up behind his sister, placing a hand on her shoulder before stepping around her.

"I know." Dean shrugged and grinned, "I look fantastic huh?" Sam let out a sharp breath, let his knife clatter to the floor and stepped up to his brother, wrapping his arms around Dean in a tight embrace.

Melody had to admit, it was a pretty heartfelt scene. Sam and Dean had never been that open with their emotions, and Melody would have loved to have gotten a picture of Dean's teary eyes. She heard Sam sniffle too and they pulled back from each other, both grinning and fighting back tears.

"So…" Melody turned to see that the brunette was still in her underwear, "are you two like…together?"

"What?" Sam was confused for a moment then caught on to what she was talking about. He shook his head, "No…no. He's my brother."

The brunette pointed at Melody, "And this is…"

"I'm the sister," Melody waved at the girl, "hi."

"O-oh um…" the girl seemed to realize that this was a pretty touching and private moment, "Look, I should probably go."

Melody sighed, "Told you it'd be awkward." She got a deadpanned stare from Dean and a confused one from Sam. They all waited in tense silence as the brunette quickly put on her clothes and gathered her things. Melody had been leaning up against the door and stood to move out of the girls way catching a whiff of her perfume.

Lord it was strong. It almost had Melody's eyes watering. Out of instinct, she sucked in a deep breath through her nose and held it. As the girl turned and left, saying an awkward goodbye to Sam telling him to call her Melody could have sworn she smelled something…different. Something…stale…

* * *

Melody leaned against the trunk of the Impala. They had taken a pit stop at a gas station. Dean and Bobby had gone inside in search of food and bathrooms, leaving Sam and Melody with the cars. They weren't speaking to each other though. After Sam's "friend" had left, Dean had accused him of making a deal. But Sam insisted that he didn't and even said that he had tried but nobody would deal with him. So instead he'd been hunting down Lilith and had tracked a pack of demons to Pontiac—the reason why he was there.

"So…" Sam said leaning against the car next to his sister, "how've you been?"

"Fine." Melody shrugged, answering in a clipped tone.

"Well, what have you been up to?" Sam asked trying to get her to speak more.

"Moved around the country a lot. Stayed off the radar, called Bobby," at that she used her bitch tone but didn't look at her little brother and continued, "got a job in a nice town. Took a break from the life for a bit."

"So you didn't make any deals for him?" Sam questioned gesturing to the gas station. Melody shook her head and crossed her arms,

"No. Unlike you, I did what our brother wished and didn't make or _try to make_ any deals."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Right, cause you're so much better than me."

Melody threw back her head and let out an exasperated sigh. She lifted her head and stared hard at her brother, "You know what? Yes, that's exactly it. I am that much better than you Sam. But…didn't you say four months ago that the reason I don't want to get Dean out is because…what did you say? Oh yeah, you said that I don't love him!"

"And you just run off? Leave me alone?" Sam argued standing up, throwing out his arms.

Melody stood up straight and pointed a finger at him, "Don't you even start! You and I both know that if I hadn't left, you'd have left just the same! You'd have run away like always! You never face your problems Sam, you just leave them behind!"

"And you didn't do the same thing?!" Sam bent his head down to lock eyes with her, "You ran away when the going got tough, you left me first!"

"That doesn't matter Sam!" Melody screamed, "I tried to call you, I wanted to work things out, I wanted to join you, I wanted to help you! But you shut out _everyone_ who cares about you! You shut out Bobby, and you shut out _me_!" She stepped back and pointed an accusing finger at him,

"I hope you had a grand old time with your girlfriends and your booze! You know what? If you aren't too careful, you'll turn out just like dad!"

Sam sneered and started walking towards her. "Hey! Hey!" Dean cried out running up and separating his siblings. He stared at them both, having seen and heard the entire fight, "What the hell is wrong with you two?"

"Nothing. Just Sam being a regular ignorant," Melody moved to the backseat, opening up the car and pulling out her duffle and purse, "arrogant…" she slammed the car door and moved over to stand in front of her brothers. She pointed directly at Sam again, "Ungrateful, uncaring…cold hearted asshole!"

She turned and went to Bobby's car throwing her things into the back before getting in the passenger seat, slamming the car door and crossing her arms over her chest. Sam fought against Dean's hold, "You aren't that innocent Melody! You're just as ungrateful and uncaring as me!"

Melody didn't really hear her older brother yell at Sam and tell him to get back in the damn car, or Bobby get in his own car. As the engine came to life, and the Impala pulled back out to the street, she heard Bobby ask if she was alright. "Yeah, I'll be fine," Melody said quickly wiping at her teary eyes, not wanting anyone to see that what Sam had said—and even the things she had said—struck a chord in her. A dark, sad, angry chord…little did she know. She was about to meet the one thing that would be a light in her bleak and depressing life.

* * *

_OKAY CAN WE JUST...*deep breath in* *deep breath out* alright but seriously um...what was with that weird guy at the diner? And his note? And then Melody and Dean's reunion...and then Sam and Melody's fight? What? I know crazy stuff this chapter but next chapter...finally...everyone's favorite angel. Yay! I'm so pumped!_

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	29. The Iceman Cometh

**Gah! CASTIEL! I am so pumped! Finally we can get this show on the road! For realsies my plans for Melody are just...ugh I wish I could tell you all but I can't because "absolutely not, no spoilers" but still...this story...and Cas and Mel...yeah...yeah get excited. Get excited! Whew...okay I'm calm...sort of...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

Melody had calmed down enough by the time they arrived at the psychic's home. They were hoping this psychic; a friend of Bobby's could shed some light on who or what had brought back Dean. Bobby hadn't said a lot during the car ride, just checked up on Melody every now and then. She appreciated it though. Bobby was always good company. He'd never pry or stick his nose in things, and he was always just there for Melody. Acting as a comforting, quiet presence.

She could hardly stand or let alone believe her little brother. Yes, she left first. Yes, she ran away. But could you blame her? The things Sam had said to her, the way he was treating her…it wasn't her little brother. And even now, four months later she could see something was different. Sam even looked bigger. Sure he had always been tall…she had always teased him about being a giant. But four months ago he was thinner, more lean then anything. Now he was huge and beefed up with broader shoulders and larger arms. Melody had noticed it the first moment she laid eyes on him.

Either her brother had been working out a lot or…or something else. And then there was that girl. Melody just couldn't get over how abnormally strong her perfume had been. It was like she had poured the whole damn bottle over herself. But then, that stale scent she got a whiff of as the tiny brunette walked past her. It had almost smelled like…

"We're here kid." Bobby announced pulling his car to a slow stop. Melody looked out the window, the house was quaint. Wrap around porch, blue, with a large white door. She got out of the car, not even glancing at Sam and followed behind Bobby as he led the way up to the house. He knocked and stepped back, only waiting a short moment before the door was pulled open.

"Bobby!" A tall, thin woman with dark hair and deep green eyes smiled widely at the mechanic. She laughed and threw her arms around him, squeezing tightly and even lifting the old man off the ground for a half second.

She released him and Bobby just grinned, "You're a sight for sore eyes."

The psychic smiled and crossed her arms over her stomach before glancing at the other three hunters. "So, these are the Winchesters?"

Bobby nodded and glanced at the siblings, "Sam, Dean, Melody—Pamela Barnes. Best damn psychic in the state."

Pam smiled warmly at Melody who gave her a quick, "Hello." And a tiny wave. Dean and Sam greeted her as well with "hi" and "hey". Pam did not hide how her eyes traveled up and down both of the brother's bodies. She made a satisfactory sound, glanced at Bobby who seemed to tell her with his eyes to 'keep it under control'.

The psychic just chuckled at her friend and glanced back at the oldest sibling, "Dean Winchester. Out of the fire and back in the frying pan, huh? Makes you a rare individual."

Dean frowned and shrugged, "If you say so."

Pam let them in, stepping aside so everyone could walk past her. "So you hear anything?" Bobby asked looking back as Pam closed her door.

"Well, I Ouija-ed my way through a dozen spirits. No one seems to know who broke your boy out or why."

"So what's next?" Bobby questioned feeling Melody stand next to him. He wasn't all that surprised really. The fight he had seen between her and Sam was pretty intense, and he couldn't blame her for not wanting to really be around the kid. Although…Bobby could see Sam's side as well. He just wished they would stop being so damn stubborn and admit that they had both been in the wrong.

Pam sighed, "A séance, I think. See if we can see who did the deed."

"You aren't summoning anything here are you?" Melody asked, wary of the psychic. She hadn't really had a lot of good experience with them. The only other good time she could think of with a psychic was Missouri Mosely back in Kansas. But that was years ago.

"No," Pam grinned, "I just want to get a sneak peek at it, like a crystal ball without the crystal."

She led them into a back room and instructed Bobby to pull the curtains closed. Melody stood on the other side of a round table in the middle of the room and watched Pam throw out a black table cover with a pentagram etched into the fabric. Sam and Dean stood opposite Melody. She had noticed that Sam was doing what she had done when she was first reunited with Dean. Staying as close as possible to the oldest Winchester, afraid that he might disappear again.

Melody idly messed with her leather bracelet and walked over to stand next to Dean. She and him shared a quick look, they had never been in this kind of séance before. Pam walked past them, bending down to pick up some candles from a shelf. Dean was staring, and Melody couldn't help but follow his eyes.

Pam had a tattoo on her lower back in black, scrolling letters saying "Jesse Forever" in looping cursive. Melody sighed and lightly slapped Dean on the arm; she hated it when he would stare at other women in front of her. It wasn't that she didn't mind him flirting; she just hated having to witness it. It was always awkward.

Dean just ignored her, pointed out the tattoo to Sam and asked, "Who's Jesse?"

Pam laughed and looked over her shoulder at him, "Well it wasn't forever."

"His loss," Dean grinned feeling Melody walk around him trying to avoid the vibes she could feel between him and Pam.

The psychic chuckled holding a few candles in her hands she walked up to the oldest, "Might be your gain."

She walked off. The boys turned their backs to her while Melody stood in front of them. Dean grinned, "Oh I am so in."

Melody chuckled, "Ever heard the term "man-eater"?"

Sam nodded, grinning as well, "Yeah, she's gonna eat you alive."

"Hey I just got out of jail." Dean shrugged, "Bring it."

"Ugh…you're so gross," Melody laughed quietly at her older brother. Pam came back to the group, stopped and looked up at Sam,

"You're invited too grumpy." She moved away going back for more candles from her shelf.

"Oh my god…" Melody buried her face in her hands, fighting back fits of laughter at Sam's and Dean's shocked faces.

Dean watched Pam walk off and quickly looked back at his brother, pointed a finger in his face and grumbled, "You are not invited."

Sam and Melody both laughed quietly at their brother. Dean even chuckled lightly along with them after a short moment. Soon, their laughter died down and Melody realized that for a moment they were like their old selves again. Joking and teasing each other, laughing easily and not really having anything too heavy weighing on their minds. She remembered how much she missed this, being with her brothers and laughing and joking. She then remembered how much she had been missing Sam over the past four months. And then realized how stubborn she was being…

Melody started to say something to her little brother, hoping to somewhat mend the rift between them but had to stop. Pam had gotten everything set up and was ready to start the séance. They all sat around the table, Pam next to Bobby and Dean. Melody sat in between her brothers, Dean on her left and Sam on her right.

Pam lit the six candles in the center of the table and put a hand to her forehead. She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Right. Take each other's hands."

They all did as they were asked. Melody saw Sam hesitate for a second before taking his sister's hand. She gave his hand a tiny squeeze, tried to catch his eye but they were interrupted again. Pam's voice cut through their tension as she looked over at Dean, "And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched."

"Whoa!" Dean exclaimed, kicking the table in surprise, "Well, he didn't touch me _there_."

Pam chuckled, "My mistake." After a half second, Dean shook off Pam's blatant flirting and reached up to pull off his flannel. He let one arm out, revealing his olive green t-shirt and—much like Melody had seen him do at Bobby's—pulled up the sleeve of the shirt revealing the bright red hand print on his arm.

Sam tensed up, he hadn't seen that yet. Melody glanced at him, sucked in her bottom lip and nodded slowly, saying without words that "yes, it's horrible and scary, I agree" before looking back at the psychic. Pam gently put her hand over the handprint, the others joined hands again and Pam began the séance.

"I invoke, conjure, and command you—appear unto me before this circle." She had her eyes closed, concentrating on finding the spirit. She repeated herself, everyone else closing their eyes as well. Trying to feel out with their minds for whatever spirit would show up. "I invoke, conjure and command you—appear unto me before this circle."

Melody squeezed her eyes shut; feeling…something and gently opened them. Nothing changed, so she just left them open. Dean had done the same and they both glanced at each other while Pam repeated her mantra, "I invoke, conjure and command you—appear unto me before this circle."

The television near the back of the room flicked on, white noise and static on its screen. "I invoke, conjure and command you—appear unto me before this circle."

Melody and Dean both exchanged wary glances as the table started to shake and a silent, high-pitched noise started ringing at them. "I invoke, conjure and—Castiel?" Melody froze. WHAT?! Castiel?! There was no way in hell that the same name she had heard in her dreams, the same name she had associated with her "light friend" would show up right now at a freaking séance!

No, no, no, no. Melody felt her eyes grow wide with fear and anxiety. She imperceptibly squeezed both of her brother's hands tighter and felt chills run up and down her arms. Pam, with her eyes still closed didn't notice Melody's growing tension and continued.

"No. Sorry, Castiel, I don't scare easy."

"Castiel?" Dean repeated, he felt his sister grip him tighter and squeezed back thinking she was just getting scared because of the shaking table and soft ringing. But he didn't know. Melody had never told anyone about her dreams. This can't be possible.

Pam shook her head, eyes squeezed shut, "It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back." She took in a breath, steeled herself and said louder, "I conjure and command you—show me your face. I conjure and command you—show me your face. I conjure and command you—show me your face."

Melody was starting to get more and more scared by the second. She sunk back into her chair slightly, glanced at Sam who had opened up his eyes now and saw how tense his brother and sister were. Pam continued, "I conjure and command you—"

"Maybe we should stop." Bobby said over the growing noise, opening up his own eyes and seeing the Winchesters were all in high agreement. He even saw how frightened Melody looked. She didn't scare easy…something was really getting to her.

"I almost got it." Pam insisted, eyes shut tight and took in a sharp breath, "I command you—show me your face. Show me your face now!" The table quaked violently, Melody and her brothers all held onto each other's hands tightly. They all jumped back when the candles at the center of the table burst and their flames shot up, rising and burning brightly.

Pam groaned, bowed her head and then let out an ear shattering scream. She opened her eyes; Melody saw their deep green color for a half second before Pam's eyes burst into flames. They burned, sparked and blood could be seen trickling down from her eyes.

Soon, the flames puffed out. Pam fell backwards, exhausted and landed on the floor on her back. The flames of the candles died down and went back to normal. "Holy shit!" Melody exclaimed getting up and running around the table to Pam's side.

"Call 911! Quickly!" Bobby shouted and Sam jumped up running out of the room in search of a phone. Dean kneeled down next to his sister as Bobby lifted Pam up into his arms resting the woman's head in his lap. Pam gasped, and opened up her eyes but…she didn't have any. They had been burned and melted away.

"Oh god…I can't see!" Pam screamed, "I can't see!" Melody grimaced, covered her mouth with her hands and leaned back, feeling Dean there behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and gently rubbed them feeling a sense of pure fear crawl up his spine. And all he and Melody could think while they stared at the writhing, shaking psychic was…what the hell.

* * *

"Okay, next time I tell you two knuckleheads that I can sense a demon. You should probably listen to me." Melody said walking into Sam's motel room with her brothers close behind. Dean pulled off his jacket and tossed it aside,

"Look Mels we aren't even sure what you can do so…forgive us for not going off of what you…sense."

"Come on Dean. How many times in the past have I been right?" Sam shut his door and pulled off his own jacket moving over to the small kitchenette.

"Melody look…next time we'll be more careful." He said holding up his hands and Melody just sighed,

"Next time you should listen to me. I mean, there were three demons in that damn diner and we only got one knife between us. That doesn't really help us all that much."

"Mels just…" Dean walked up to her, placed his hands firmly on her shoulders, "we're sorry alright. But you said it yourself; those demons are just as scared as we are of whatever this Castiel thing is."

Her jaw clenched, "I don't think it's a demon. I mean, what kind of demon doesn't just show itself. They are pretty narcissistic right?"

"Here," Sam walked around them to his bags. He opened one up revealing a pile of old books, "I've got some things that might help us narrow down whatever this thing might be."

Dean sighed, "Of course. I missed this part." Grudgingly they got down to work. Melody and Dean had even pulled out the pull out bed from the sofa in the motel room and were sprawled on it, books piled around them. Eventually as the sun faded and the moon rose, Dean and Melody had fallen asleep on the bed. Dean, sitting up at the head of the couch with an open book in his lap and his sister was lying down on her side next to him, her booted feet pressing against his legs. She had a large text laid out over her stomach but her hands were stretched up resting above her head as her hair was thrown out in different directions.

Sam smiled fondly at his siblings, noticing how similar they looked—especially in the eyes. Sure their eyes were closed now, but they still had the same shape…round and huge. For a moment, Sam considered staying. Maybe he could wake Melody up and they would go get some coffee or something, surprise Dean with a pie maybe. But…he couldn't stay. He needed to go. So he left the motel room silently, glancing back at his brother and sister seeing that they were both still fast asleep and closed the door.

Melody stirred in her sleep, ignoring the sounds of a car engine and stretched out her legs digging them deeper into Dean. He grumbled, pushed at her shoes to get her to move but Melody was steadfast and just kept her boots planted firmly against him. Dean was going to just ignore it; he was too tired to deal with it right now and leaned his head back further starting to fall asleep again. A high pitched ring started to echo through the room, the television flicked on showing static and white noise came out at him.

Dean opened his eyes, rubbed them and saw the radio and alarm clock flick on. It turned through different radio stations, and the static seemed to get louder on the television. "Mels…" he said slapping her boots. Melody just groaned and turned on her side, curling up into a tight ball. "Dammit. Mels!" he hissed harshly climbing over her and reaching down. They had placed a shotgun on her side of the bed and he picked it up, cocking it loudly.

Melody jerked awake when she heard the shotgun immediately noticing the high pitched ringing and everything in the room on. She stood up behind her brother, all evidence of sleep completely wiped off her face. Dean held up the shotgun, felt his sister grip his shoulders and carefully moved around the room. They both glanced over, seeing their little brother's empty bed. "Where the hell is Sam?" Melody whispered looking around the room. No light on in the bathroom, but the door to their room was unlocked…

Dean steeled himself, held up the shotgun aiming for the entrance to their room. Melody gripped his shoulders tighter, preparing herself for whatever was going to come through the door. The ringing got louder and louder. The Winchesters winced at the noise, reaching up to cover up their ears. The mirrored ceilings started to crack. Melody and Dean groaned, the oldest tossed away the shotgun covering up his ears with both of his hands and saw his sister do the same.

The ringing got so intense that they were brought to their knees, groaning the whole time. The windows burst and shattered, Melody let out a tiny yelp of surprise when she felt the shards fly past her back. They heard a loud cracking, looked up and saw the mirrored ceilings breaking away. Dean grabbed Melody, threw her down in front of the pull out bed and covered her head, burying her face into his chest. They covered their ears again trying to snuff out the piercing ring. The mirrored ceilings broke and shattered, falling to the floor and sending debris flying everywhere.

Melody actually screamed this time, loud and shrill though her scream was easily muted by the high pitched ringing. "Dean! Melody!" they glanced up, saw Bobby rush into the room. He pulled them up and rushed them out of the room, bowing their heads as the rest of the mirrored ceiling fell apart and down on top of them.

* * *

"Stop fussing would ya?" Dean grumbled as Melody reached up from the backseat of Bobby's car dabbing at his bleeding ear with a rag. She just ignored him and pressed her finger harder into his ear, eliciting a wince from him.

"Maybe if you stop squirming I'll stop fussing." She got her brother's best bitch face but ignored it and wiped away the last of the blood from his ear. She started to pull away her hand but Dean stopped her, taking hold of her wrist he looked down at the top of her hand.

"Maybe I should be fussing over you huh?" he pointed out the tiny little cuts across her skin. She pulled her hand away and shrugged absently rubbing at the little marks,

"It's fine Dean. I hardly feel them anyways." But in all honesty she did. They felt like little paper cuts all over her hands. They weren't bleeding they damn sure stung like a mother.

"You sure you're alright kid?" Bobby asked Dean, concerned that his ear had been bleeding. He had seen how Dean was covering up his sister's face opting to protect her over himself from the flying shards of glass. As much as Bobby could appreciate and see why Dean would do that, he was also a bit frustrated with Dean. He was always throwing himself—sometimes literally—at dangerous situations to protect his younger siblings.

Dean wiped at his ear again and grumbled, "Well aside from the church bells ringing in my head…peachy."

Bobby glanced back at Melody, "And you?"

"Fine Bobby. Just a bit shaken up is all." She mumbled trying to forget about her hands and instead swatted Dean on the shoulder, "Call Sam. I want to know where he went."

Dean nodded pulling out his phone and quickly dialed up his brother. Sam answered after the third ring, _"Hey."_

"What are you doing?" Dean asked him.

_"Couldn't sleep. Went to get a burger."_

"In my car?" Melody leaned up and Dean switched his phone from his right ear to his left so she could hear Sam.

_"Force of habit, sorry. What are you doing up?"_

"Well, uh, Bobby's back. We're all going to grab a beer." Dean glanced at Melody and Bobby, holding up a hand to stop them both from saying anything. But Melody could already tell by the tone of Sam's voice that he didn't just go to "get a burger".

_"Alright well uh, spill some for me huh?"_

"Done. Yeah, I'll catch you later." Dean hung up and exchanged a wary look with his sister. Bobby however had not caught on and stared at Dean like he had grown a second head,

"Why the hell didn't you tell him?"

"Cause he'd just try to stop us." Dean answered idly playing with his phone in his hands.

"From what?" Bobby asked staring at the road.

"Summoning this thing. It's time we face it head on."

Now it was Melody's turn to stare at her brother, "You cannot be serious."

"As a heart attack." Dean deadpanned and then grinned at her, "It's high noon baby sis."

She ignored his joke and threw up her hands, "Dean we have no idea what this thing is. It…it could be a demon—it could be anything." Honestly she was way too afraid to find out what "Castiel" was. He had visited her dreams—just like Azazel had visited Sam. And what he had done to Pam? Burned out her eyes just because she wanted to get a look at him? Yeah…no way she wanted to meet this thing. He sounded like he had a mean streak. Even if he had been gentle to her in her dreams…demons lie, it's what they do.

"That's why we got to be ready for anything." Dean reached back and pulled out the demon knife. He held it up in the moonlight, "We got the big time magic knife. You got an arsenal in the trunk." He pointed at Bobby then looked back at his sister, "And Mels you've got the whole…glowy thing."

He wiggled his fingers in front of her face and Melody quickly swatted them away. "Dean that "glowy thing" only raises my strength up a little. I don't think I'd be strong enough to go against…whatever the hell this thing is. Cause it isn't a regular demon."

Bobby sighed, "This is a bad idea."

"I couldn't agree more, but what other choice do we have?" Dean shrugged, putting the demon knife back where he had gotten it. "Bobby whatever this is, whatever it wants, it's after me—that much we know, right? Well, I got no place to hide. I can either get caught with my pants down again—while this thing has also threatened my _sister_—or we can make our stand."

"Dean, we could use Sam for this." Bobby said keeping his eyes on the road. Melody nodded,

"I have to agree with him on that."

The oldest Winchester just shrugged, "Nah, he's better off where he is."

* * *

Melody jumped down from the table, spray paint can in her hand. She had a few spots of white and black paint on her fingers but ignored it. They had found an old abandoned barn and had covered the entire building, literally floor to ceiling with sigils from every known culture and religion. Dean added more weapons to the table across from her, "That's a hell of an art project you two got going there."

Bobby walked over to them from the far side of the barn having finished up his side as well. "Traps and talismans from every faith on the globe." Bobby caught Melody's spray paint can and threw her's and his own off to the side.

"How's it going for you then?" Melody asked picking up a stray rag and wiping her hands of the paint. Dean looked down at the table,

"Stakes, iron, silver, salt, knife—I mean, we're pretty much set to catch and kill anything I've ever heard of."

Bobby shook his head, "This is still a bad idea."

Melody opened her mouth to voice her agreement but Dean just held up a hand, "Mels…I heard you two the first ten times." Melody sighed, clenched her jaw but didn't say anything. Yes this was a horrible idea but…what else could they do? Dean sighed, "What do you say we ring the dinner bell?"

* * *

Two…hours…

They had been sitting in this cold ass barn for two hours! Melody dropped down from her spot on the table next to Dean and started to pace, arms over her chest and chewed her lip. "Okay…I'm officially bored." She grumbled running a hand through her hair.

Dean looked at his pacing sister and then at Bobby who was sitting in a similar position as him on top of the table across from him. "You sure you did the ritual right?" Dean asked. Bobby just froze and stared at Dean giving him his best face that clearly said, "you really want to go there?"

"Sorry." Dean held out a hand and idly flipped the demon knife around in his other hand, "Touchy, touchy huh?"

As if on cue the wind began to howl and moan outside. The tin roof started rumbling and shaking, banging against the support beams. Melody saw Bobby and Dean stand from their spots, all three taking a shotgun into their hands. The tin and metal roof pieces banged against the wooden support beams of the barn loudly. All three stood in the middle of the room and gripped their weapons tightly. Melody slowly reached back and felt her 1911 sitting in the back belt loop of her pants. Good, she still had her back up weapon just in case.

"Wishful thinking," Dean said over the noise, "but maybe it's just the wind."

The lights above their heads burst and shattered, sparks flying all around them. The wind seemed to grow louder and louder. They ducked their heads, covering themselves from the flying sparks. Melody looked up and saw the barn doors open up, revealing a tall, dark shadow walk through the open doors.

More sparks flew, blinding them for a few seconds. Melody raised her shotgun along with her brother and Bobby. They could see a man, tall, broad shouldered but slightly hunched over. He wore a tan trench coat, black dress pants and black dress shoes. A blue jacket, white button up and deep blue tie could be seen underneath his coat. He had mussed up, dark hair and deep blue eyes.

Slowly, he advanced on them not flinching from the sparks and loud popping noises of the lights above his head. Bobby, Dean and Melody all unloaded their shotguns hitting him in the shoulders, stomach and chest. But the man did not flinch. He just ignored the bullets and kept walking towards them.

With her shotgun empty Melody tossed it aside, reached back and pulled out her pistol. She pulled back the hammer and aimed it at the man's head while Bobby went off to the other side gathering another weapon of his own. The man in the trench coat all but ignored Melody and Bobby and only had eyes for Dean.

The oldest backed up, feeling for his sister he pulled her closer to him keeping a hand on her right arm as she aimed with the left. She may be a righty in life but she had always practiced more with shooting with her left hand. And—thankfully—the work was about to pay off. Dean deftly grabbed the demon knife and kept it tucked behind his arm. "Who are you?" he asked the man.

Trench coat stopped when Dean was done circling him, "I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition."

"Yeah, thanks for that." Dean grumbled then pulled back and stabbed the man directly in the heart. Trench coat stood there, regarded the knife and stared down at it like it was nothing—like a tiny fly had landed on his collar—and slowly pulled the knife out of his chest. Melody could only watch in silent fear as he watched her and her brother carefully.

"Okay…that happened…" Melody mumbled feeling her gun arm start to waver. Bobby was the first to act, holding a large iron crow bar in his hands he pulled back his arms and aimed to harm trench coat. Without taking his eyes away from the Winchesters, the man reached up his hand, stopping the brow bar from getting any closer to him. Bobby was visibly struggling against the hold the man had on his weapon, trying to push back against his vice grip.

Trench coat turned to Bobby, reached up and—using two fingers—touched his forehead. Bobby crumbled and fell to the ground unconscious, weapon clattering away from him. Melody snarled getting trench coat's attention and felt her powers boil up to the surface. Her eyes flashed silver and she ran up to him raising her gun. He reacted fast—a lot faster than she had anticipated—and turned around, gripping her by the throat.

Melody coughed and chocked, fingers gripping at his hand around her neck as he slowly lifted her off the ground. She felt her powers dissipate, and her rage had all but vanished. Before she could have any other thoughts, trench coat threw her to the side. Melody skidded across the floor coming to a halt a few feet away from her brother. She wasn't out of the fight though, and quickly leaned up from her back and aimed her pistol at him, pulling back the hammer she aimed right for his head.

"Please Melody…" he held up a hand and she froze not knowing that he knew her name, but that would not stop her. She steeled herself, finger ghosting over the trigger. Trench coat just raised his hand again and flicked it, her gun following and skidding across the floor. Melody leaned up on her hands, breathing heavily, heart racing and pounding against her chest.

Trench coat looked away from her, and Melody saw a flash of what she thought was regret before he looked at her brother again. "We need to talk, Dean. Alone."

At first, Melody wasn't quite sure what that meant. Slowly, she stood up from her spot on the ground on shaking legs. Before she could really register what was happening, trench coat was walking towards her raising his fingers to her forehead. She backed up all the way to the wall of the barn and froze. He was literally inches from her and Melody could see a light five o'clock shadow grazing his jaw and chin. His eyes were _so_ _blue_. And that's the last thing that ran through her mind as he touched her forehead and…

Nothing. Melody was grimacing, waiting for whatever he was about to do to her happen but…it didn't. He seemed confused as well and stepped back from her. Trench coat watched her closely, staring at her face and watching her eyes carefully before looking back at her brother.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt for your sister to hear." He moved away from her, going to their table full of weapons and Bobby's other things. Melody, slightly fearful of whoever this guy was skirted around him and moved to her brother. Dean grabbed her, holding her by the arms and checking her injuries. A light bruise was forming on the sides of her neck but other than that she wasn't harmed.

"I'm okay…" Melody mumbled, shaking from the adrenaline…or fear she wasn't quite sure. She and Dean both moved over and kneeled next to their uncle, checking him for signs of life. Luckily, they both felt a steady pulse.

"Your friend is alive." Trench coat said, idly flipping through one of Bobby's books. Dean stared at him from the floor, feeling his sister slowly stand up he asked,

"Who are you?"

"Castiel." Melody froze. This…this was him? The light that visited her dreams? The presence she had felt before when she lost Sam and then Dean to his deal all those years ago? But, in her dreams he was so benevolent and kind and gentle. Now? Now Castiel was…almost like a soldier. Hard, stone-faced and stiff.

Dean just nodded from his spot on the floor, "Yeah, I figured that much. I mean _what_ are you?"

Castiel stared at his book for a moment longer, and then glanced up to stare at the Winchesters, "I'm an angel of the lord."

Melody felt chills run up and down her entire body, "Oh my g—um…wow…" she said staring hard at Castiel. He glanced at her, watched her closely again like he had before and Melody could feel him taking in every detail. Like he was trying to memorize everything about her. For what purpose, she didn't quite know. All she knew is that it made her feel incredibly vulnerable and she did _not_ like that.

Thankfully her brother spoke up, distracting Castiel from her, "Get the hell out of here." Dean stood up, shoulders tense, "There's no such thing."

Castiel turned away from the book on the table, moving to stand in the center of the room he stared at the oldest Winchester, "This is your problem Dean. You have no faith."

Thunder rumbled outside, and lighting flashed brightly at them. Melody couldn't help but stare at Castiel and watched in silent awe as black, shadowy wings began to slowly open themselves behind the angel. It was beautiful and terrifying all at once.

The thunder and lightning died down. "Some angel you are." Dean grumbled, "You burned out that poor woman's eyes."

Castiel bowed his head, "I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be overwhelming to humans. And so can my real voice…but you already knew that."

"You mean the gas station and the motel?" Dean asked and Melody felt her brow crease,

"That was _you_ talking?"

Dean shook his head, "Buddy next time lower the volume."

"That was my mistake." Castiel said gently, "Certain people—special people can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong."

"But…" Melody said taking a half step towards the angel, "what about…" she glanced at Dean knowing what she was about to say would completely throw him for a loop but she had to know. "What about in my dreams? It was you wasn't it? The light that spoke to me?"

She ignored the shocked look she got from her brother and just kept her eyes on the angel. "Yes that was…not my true form. It was the only way I could show myself to you."

"Your voice though…what about that?"

Castiel watched her with his endless blue eyes, and Melody felt that vulnerability all over again, "I was hardly speaking at all. I was holding back a lot."

Melody couldn't help but grin slightly, "That's why you hardly ever spoke to me."

Dean having watched the entire thing, shook his head and waved his hands through the air, "Well…besides you apparently creeping on my little sister and her dreams…what _visage_ are you in now? What some…holy tax accountant?"

"This?" Castiel reached down and plucked at his trench coat, "This is…a vessel."

"You're possessing some poor bastard?" Dean asked accusingly but Castiel either didn't notice his tone or ignored it.

"He's a devout man. He actually prayed for this."

"Look pal, I'm not buying what you're selling. So who are you really?" Dean grumbled out at him. Castiel tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, blue eyes shining at them as he squinted briefly.

"I told you."

"Right," Dean nodded and grinned sarcastically, "And why would an angel rescue me from hell?"

"Good things do happen Dean." Castiel said slowly walking up to him. Melody felt her brother reach out and pull her behind him.

"Not in my experience." Her brother seemed to be holding back and fighting against his emotions.

"What's the matter?" Castiel watched Dean closely, head tilting to the side again, "You don't think you deserve to be saved."

Melody drew her eyes away from the angel and stared up at her brother. "Dean…?" He didn't answer her, just glanced down at his boots for a half second before looking back up at the angel with more determination in his voice.

"Why'd you do it?"

Castiel flicked his eyes at Melody before looking back at Dean. "Because God commanded it." He answered simply, "Because we have work for you."

* * *

_*Insert fangirl squee* CAS! Omg I cannot wait because this story is just going to...ugh just the feels and the angst and the...*cough cough* romance *cough* ugh I just...I love it._

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	30. Thanks, Feather-Head

**I can hardly contain my excitement! I mean, new story banner (the better/more extended version is on my tumblr) we're finally getting to season 4, and Castiel and the angels and...and the romance (which btw is going to be a slow build...I mean who doesn't love sexual tension right?) and the apocalypse and we will all finally know who Mel is and why she has her powers and who her "creator" is. Gah! So as we make our way to those amazing milestones...I give you a blast from the past in this chapter :) oh and dreamy angels and name-calling. Mostly on Melody's part :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_September 24, 2008_

_Well…um talk about tense. We've spent the last few days running and fighting for our lives against spirits. But not just any regular spirits. We've been running and fighting against the ghosts of people we weren't able to save. Henricksen showed up, attacked Sam in a gas station bathroom, and Meg attacked Dean at Bobby's while these two little girl spirits nearly killed my uncle! We got him out though and then Bobby took us down to this awesome panic room that he built. It was made of solid iron, had salt built into the walls to keep spirits from entering. The roof had this large extraction fan and below it was a grill with the metal shaped like a devil's trap. It had a bed and was pretty well stocked. _

_Anyways while we were down there Sam and Dean had mentioned seeing a symbol on the ghosts. Bobby did some research and turns out it was the Mark of the Witness. And there appearance heralds the coming of the apocalypse. Great…just great. It's not like we already have enough to worry about what with a damn angel of the lord talking to us! Oh and Dean is so stubborn. He is having such a hard time accepting that Castiel is an angel and that God would take an interest in him. Does he really think so low of himself? Of course he would…moron…_

_Well Bobby had a spell that would send the witnesses back to rest. Basically we had to risk our assess—again—to get up to Bobby's fireplace because the spell required an open fire. Well it nearly killed Bobby, but we did it. Had to fight off all these different spirits while Bobby chanted away. Sam and Dean are asleep now. I'm starting to nod off as well. Might as well catch some sleep…_

* * *

Melody stirred and rolled over, only to find her hand digging into sand. She popped up shaking her head groggily. She was laying on a sand bar on a large mint green towel. The ocen, crisp and piercing blue lapped up near her bare feet. Melody stood up on shaking legs. She was still wearing what she had fallen asleep in. Dark skinny jeans, white tank top and her leather bracelet and necklace. No shoes though—she had taken them off before she fell asleep at Bobby's.

Wait…that means that I'm…

"Oh. Brilliant." Melody grumbled throwing out her arms, "Who the hell's going to visit me this time?"

"Melody." She whipped around only to find Castiel standing a few feet away from her, still in his dress pants and trench coat. Melody took a half step away from him, feeling the sand between her toes,

"Oh no. Last time an angel visited me in a dream it did not turn out good."

Castiel gave her a slight look of confusion but quickly wiped it away, "Do you know why the witnesses were raised tonight?"

"Um…yeah, the apocalypse right?" Melody crossed her arms over her chest feeling that vulnerability again as he stared at her. "Wait a minute. Is that why you're here now? Angels are walking among us again because someone is trying to start the apocalypse?"

"You're a lot more perceptive than your brother Dean." Castiel commented looking out across the water, "You also aren't as hostile towards me as he is."

Melody scoffed, "Have you met my brother? The term "hard-ass" doesn't quite describe him…that barely scratches the surface."

The angel just stared out at the ocean again; it looked like he wasn't really listening to her. Melody huffed and took a step towards him, "Look feather-head, what the hell do you want anyways? Dean can always tell me everything you told him. What's the point of invading my dream?"

"I always liked your dreams." Castiel said looking back at her, "They were always simple and calming. Not anything like the life you lead."

"Well…" Melody was a bit flabbergasted for a moment, "thank you?"

Castiel nodded at her once then looked back at the water. Melody just rolled her eyes and started to pace sending a few glances towards the angel making sure he was still there. She thought he was going to say something else but he just stayed in his spot and watched the sea. "So…" Melody tried speaking to him, "are all you angel type's bundles of energy like yourself?"

"What do you mean?" Castiel questioned, looking at her and she couldn't help but stare at his eyes. Those…gorgeous blue—no. Melody shook the thought out of her head. Yes he was cute…and kind of endearing and sexy with the whole "warrior of heaven" thing. No! Melody screamed at herself. He was not cute or endearing or…sexy.

"Uh…" Melody shuttered, tossing away the thoughts, "well you're just kind of standing there. Aren't you supposed to spout out some words of wisdom? War me of some impending doom?"

Castiel glanced down at the sand, "I thought you enjoyed our quiet company." He looked back up at her, salty sea air blowing past them gently billowing out his trench coat.

"I did. But that was before I even knew what you _are_. And…and my last encounter with an angel didn't end on the best of terms—don't ask." She held up a hand stopping him from asking anything about that, "I'll probably just tell you to stick it where the sun don't shine anyways. And you seem like an…okay angel. I think."

"Is that you being nice?" he asked squinting at her and tilting his head slightly. Melody couldn't help but grin at him. Quickly she wiped away the smirk and shrugged,

"Probably the best you're gonna get out of me feather-head." Castiel seemed satisfied with the answer and she could have sworn she saw the tiniest, ghost of a smile on his lips.

"_Melody!"_

They both glanced up at the sky, it was slowly fading to black. Melody looked back at the angel. He was stepping away from her, "It's time for you to wake up."

"Well…wait a minute," she said walking towards him quickly. Castiel just kept moving backwards, keeping his eyes on her face. Melody felt her feet get glued to the sand. She couldn't move no matter how much she fought against the force holding her down. She looked back up to find that Castiel had vanished, leaving her alone on the sand bar.

"_Mels!"_

Melody huffed and rolled her eyes, "Stupid angel…doesn't even say goodbye—ass."

* * *

"Mels! Come on wake up." Dean grumbled shaking his sister by the arms. She mumbled, tossed her head to the side and before anyone could take in a second breath, she jerked awake. Melody stared up at Dean, eyes wide with surprise.

"Wha…what time is it?" she mumbled sitting up on the floor and rubbing her eyes.

Dean sat back and started pulling on his shoes, "Half past ten in the morning. Get your stuff together, Sam's got a lead."

Melody grumbled and reached for her bag. She pulled out a deep blue cardigan and pulled it on over her white tank top. Bending her back she grabbed her boots which she had carelessly thrown aside the night before and started pulling them on over her dark blue, ripped up skinny jeans. It was then that she realized she had put on a blue cardigan…blue like his eyes. Melody groaned inwardly…this was going to be a long car trip.

* * *

Sam watched his siblings. They had both fallen asleep in the same bed. Dean was on his side, his leather jacket used as a blanket while Melody had fallen asleep with her back resting against the head board. Her journal was opened in her lap, and Sam glanced at the page to see a half done sketch of the angel Castiel on the paper. Sam couldn't help but stare at the picture. It was almost an exact likeness of the guy. He'd never realized his sister was such an artist. There were even smudges of black all over her fingers.

He silently stood up from his spot at the table, grabbed his jacket and things and crept around his siblings and out of the room. Melody stirred, having heard what sounded like the lock to their room door latch close but ignored it opting for sleep instead. She twisted her head to the side, resting it on her shoulder but froze. She could have sworn she heard the sound of…wings…

Her eyes popped open, finding the angel Castiel sitting at the edge of the bed next to her legs. "Hello Melody." She stared at him, surprised to find him sitting so close to her legs. He regarded her for a moment, then glanced down at her journal. Melody reacted quickly and fumbled as she shut her journal.

Dean jerked awake, having felt the bed shift and because of his…nightmares. Flashes and memories from hell. He hadn't told anyone the truth. That he really did remember everything. And those memories were haunting him almost every hour of the day.

"Hello Dean." Castiel said casually causing Dean to jerk his head around. He saw the angel sitting close to his sister's legs and how tense his sister looked. Melody just glanced between them trying to tuck her journal away. "What were you dreaming about?" The angel asked them, although there was no way in hell either would talk about it.

Dean because his was too terrifying and he didn't want to relive it. Melody because…well…let's just say a certain face hadn't really left her thoughts at all. Even in her sleep. The oldest huffed and lifted his arm out of his jacket, "You get your freak on by watching other people sleep?"

"What do you want?" Melody asked the angel watching him with wary eyes.

Castiel sighed, "Listen to me." He glanced between the Winchesters, "You have to stop it."

"Stop what?" Dean questioned impatiently. Before either him or his sister could move, Castiel reached out both of his hands and touched their foreheads with his middle and index finger. Melody saw a flash of light and before she could blink…

_BEEP! BEEP!_

"Ah!" Melody screamed finding several cars swerving and dodging her. She was in the middle of some damned street! She yelped, jumped over the hood of an oncoming car and tumbled and rolled to the sidewalk. She came to a halt on the pavement facedown and groaned feeling a few new scrapes on her forearms.

Melody slowly leaned up on her hands. "Whoa, whoa. Hey are you alright?" she felt a pair of strong, calloused hands take hold of her arms and help her up.

"Ugh…" Melody wiped at her jeans, "yeah, yeah I'll be…okay…"

She felt a lump form in her throat as her mouth went dry. Standing in front of her was…her father. But her young father. John Winchester. He looked about twenty years old to her. Fresh faced, and youthful. "I…" she stuttered feeling his hands still gripping her arms, "I-I-I-uh…y-you…"

"Whoa slow down there." He said gently reaching down he picked up her arms and examined the scrapes. John winced, "Those are pretty nasty. Here, there's a diner just across the street. I know the owner, I'm sure he's got something that'll help."

John turned to walk away intending for her to follow but Melody just felt her feet frozen to the concrete. He looked back at her, "Hey. Come on it's alright." John said walking over to her. He softly wrapped an arm across her shoulders and with his free hand, took her's and gently guided them down the street. Melody automatically followed, shoulders tense and eyes wide with shock.

"My name's John. What's yours?"

She looked up at him, swallowed and said through a shaking voice, "Um…M-Melody. My name's Melody."

John smiled at her, "That's a pretty name—Melody...that a family name?"

"Uh…" she shook her head as they stopped at a cross walk, "n-no um…no I don't think so. My d-dad picked it. He…he never said why though…"

_Oh…crap…_ Melody felt a chill run down her spine. If her father in the year 1981 picked the name "Melody" for her then does that mean that he…remembers this? No…no way, not unless hell would freeze over would she have an influence on her own name!

"Well the man's got good taste. It suits you." John grinned down at her as he led the way across the street, still keeping a gentle hold on her. Melody stared up at him, never realizing how handsome her father had been. Sure he had always been a good looking guy but…were his eyes always that green?

"Are you…are you in the marines by chance?" she asked him, calming down a little though she was still in pure shock. John glanced down at her,

"Maybe. Why do you ask?"

"Oh um my f-father was a marine. Guess you can just tell when you grow up with it right?" she laughed but it wasn't full of humor, and her smile was so weak she was sure she looked like a crazy person to him. Thankfully, John must have shrugged off her odd behavior as shock from almost getting run over by a damn car. And even though she was a little freaked out by that, Melody was more freaked out by the fact that she was walking with her young father!

John grinned at her and opened up the door to "Jay Bird's Diner" leading Melody inside. He walked up to the bar and greeted the man standing behind it. "Hey Reg. You got that first-aid kit anywhere?" John helped Melody into a stool and the owner handed up a white box with a bright red cross on top.

"They really aren't that bad." Melody mumbled holding up her arms, "Trust me, I've had worse."

"I don't know," John said pulling out a cotton ball and some antiseptic, "the way you were dodging those cars? You looked like a pro."

Melody chuckled, "You should see me when I'm actually prepared to dodge cars." John laughed and wiped at her arms—noticing that she didn't pull back from pain or even show any signs of discomfort. Yeah, this girl definitely had a marine for a father.

They fell into a comfortable silence; Melody couldn't help but watch John as he worked on cleaning up her wounds. She could really see her brothers in him. And herself if she really thought about it. If she had dark hair like him, she'd probably look like a female version of her father. Before long, he was finished and Melody quickly excused herself to the bathroom figuring that if she was seeing a young version of her father…than she probably wasn't in the twenty-first century anymore.

She shut the door and found nobody else in the room and whipped out her phone. Of course…no reception. No cell towers. Melody threw back her head and let out an exasperated sigh. How the hell was she supposed to find her brother?

Thinking that maybe she should stick with the only person she knew at the moment—her father—she left the bathroom. Glancing up, she saw her big brother sitting down next to John. "Dean!" she let out a sigh of relief and ran across the small diner. Dean stood up having heard his baby sister's voice and saw her running at him. He quickly caught her as she wrapped her arms around his stomach, squeezing him tightly.

"Oh thank god." He said pulling back and checking her over, "You alright?"

Melody nodded feeling him guide her back to the bar and sitting her down next to him. She glanced over at John who was watching them carefully. "Yeah I'm fine just…just got a little scraped up on the pavement. Um…John helped me."

Dean looked over at him—not realizing who he was and shook the kid's hand. "Thanks for helping out my sister."

"Sure it's no problem uh…Reg, can I get some coffee's for these two?" John asked the owner who nodded and quickly got to work. Melody tried to get her brother's attention again,

"Dean…um…"

But he ignored her and mumbled, "We're in Lawrence. Why the hell are we in Kansas of all places?" He glanced at John and pulled out his cell phone. Melody just face-palmed and listened to her brother ask him, "Can you tell me where I can get reception on this thing?"

She heard John scoff, "The U.S.S Enterprise?" Melody couldn't help but chuckle at his joke. It was pretty funny…that and her clueless brother. Dean stared at him, then at his sister and mumbled "thanks" before stuffing his useless phone back into his pocket.

Reg placed two cups of coffee onto the bar. Dean and Melody both thanked him. Melody poured two drops of sugar into her drink and bowed her head down over the mug as she mixed everything together, hoping the smell would clear her fuzzy head. She heard her brother again, "Nice threads." He said to Reg, "You know Sonny and Cher broke up, right?"

Melody popped up her head, giving Dean her best "shut your damn mouth" face because she knew how crazy they both looked right now. And going by how old she thought her father was…Sonny and Cher had most certainly not broken up. Not yet anyway.

"Sonny and Cher broke up?" John asked him, surprised and shocked. Melody smiled,

"Uh…nice try Dean." She tried covering up for him but just got confused looks from both John and Reg. Slowly, they all went back to their own business. Reg to attend his other customers and John to reading the paper. Dean seemed to realize then that something was off. He glanced around the diner. Everyone was wearing very vintage clothing, even the whole diner had a vintage look.

He and Melody both leaned over and discreetly stared at John's paper. The date at the top read "1973". Oh no…Melody sat back. She did the math in her head and came to the conclusion that that made her dad…nineteen. She had just shared coffee, walked across the street and joked around with her nineteen year old father! He wasn't even technically her father yet! Oh god…no, no, no, no…

"Hey Winchester!" All three people sitting at the bar turned to look at the door. A tall, kindly grey-haired man walked past Dean and Melody over to John. He smiled widely at the young man, "Son of a bitch! How you doin Corporal?"

John shook his hand and smiled. Melody tried to gesture to Dean that that was who he was thinking it was. Dean just stared at her, confused as he looked over to watch the conversation. "Hey, Mr. D." John smiled up at the older man shaking his hand firmly.

"I heard you were back." Mr. D grinned. John just shrugged,

"Yeah a little while now."

"Well it's good to have you home, John—damn good." Melody couldn't help but stare at John again. It was just so damn…weird, creepy and amazing all at once. She heard her brother mumble "dad" before Mr. D continued, slapping John firmly on the shoulder, "Say hello to your old man for me."

"You got it, Mr. D." John smiled as the old man walked away. He looked back and reached down to sip at his coffee again but froze, feeling eyes on him. He glanced up and found the two strange people—the girl Melody and apparently her brother—staring at him oddly. John looked between them, "Do we know each other?"

Melody stuttered, "Uh…uh w-well…" she felt her brother gently knock his foot into her shin and she popped her mouth shut. She turned back to her coffee, lifted up the mug and took a large sip, ignoring the burning on her tongue.

"I guess not." Dean mumbled turning back to sip at his drink as well. John stared at them both a little longer but just shook his head. He pulled out some change, put it onto the bar top and looked back at the pair, "You two take it easy."

"Yeah," Dean nodded and saw his sister just nod quickly, both keeping their eyes cast down and away from him. John got up and left the diner soon after—not before sending back another weird glance at the two people sitting at the bar.

Melody watched their father's silhouette move past the windows of the diner and glanced back at her brother, "We are following him right?" But Dean was already half way out of his seat,

"Oh yeah."

* * *

They trailed nineteen year old John Winchester down a few blocks. He didn't seem to notice them at all. John rounded a corner and Melody and Dean quickly skirted around it but froze. Melody let out a yelp of surprise when she saw Castiel standing right in front of them, stoic and stone faced.

"Seriously?" she hissed at him throwing out her arms indicating their surroundings. Dean just let out a shaking breath,

"What is this?"

Castiel watched them both, "What does it look like?"

"Is it real?" Melody asked him, though she already knew the answer.

"Very."

Dean felt his jaw clench, "Okay so…what, angels got their hands on some DeLoreans? How did we get here?"

Castiel glanced away from them, electing to watch the street and the moving people, "Time is flud. It's not easy, but we can bend it on occasion."

Melody threw up her hands in defeat, "Well then bend it back." The angel just stared at her. Melody grumbled, "Look feather-head you had better start makin sense or—"

"Just…" Dean held up a hand stopping her from going any further, "tell us what the hell we're doing here."

"I told you. You have to stop it." Castiel said simply. Melody let out a frustrated breath of air and clenched her jaw. This guy was really, really starting to irk her.

"Stop what?" Dean asked heatedly, "What is there something nasty after our dad?" Again, the angel just stared at them. Melody whipped her head around along with her brother, hearing tires screeching and horns blaring thinking that they had just seen a car crash. But there was nothing and the Winchesters both looked back only to find the spot where Castiel had just been standing empty.

"You have _got_ to be joking." Melody grumbled and heard her brother sigh,

"Come on. What are you allergic to straight answers, you song of a bitch?!"

* * *

Melody leaned into her brother, both staring at the young couple in the restauraunt window several feet away. She heard Dean chuckled, "Sammy wherever you are…mom is a babe." Melody just stared at him, dumbfounded. Dean glanced down at her, cleared his throat, "Uh I'm going to hell…again."

"More like special hell." She mumbled, gently elbowing her brother in the ribs. She had to admit, their mother was absolutely gorgeous. They had followed their father to a car lot earlier, and Dean had convinced him to buy a 1967 Chevy Impala. But not just any Impala…it was the Impala. The very same car that would act as a home to their family for…basically the rest of their lives. After that—and thouroughly creeping out their father by asking about cattle mutilations—they had followed him to an all too familiar house.

They had seen a young blonde girl run out of the home and immediately recognized her as Mary—well for now she was still Mary Campbell. Their mother. Now they were keeping an eye on their parents, making sure nothing would jump them and were admiring the view of the young couple. "It really is kinda nice seeing them like this huh?" Melody asked watching her mother laugh and smile at their father.

"Yeah…never thought I'd see em like this." Dean said rubbing his sister's arm. She watched Mary get up—presumably for the bathroom—leaving John alone in the booth.

"Wait a minute is that…?" Melody stepped out of her brother's hold and moved a half step closer squinting through the window. Had she just seen John with a…little red jewelry box?

"Why are you following us?" Melody and Dean both whipped their heads around only to find Mary Campbell standing directly behind the oldest sibling. Mary was fast, and quickly grabbed Dean by the back of the head, bending him down and kneeing him in the forehead. Dean fell backwards and Mary quickly elbowed him in the throat, sending him flying back into the opposite building.

"Now…just hang on—" Melody tried to get Mary to calm down but she wouldn't listen. Instead she threw out her fist, aiming for Melody's jaw. She easily ducked and avoided the hit, grabbing onto Mary's arm and twisting the arm behind Mary's back.

Melody ignored her grunts of pain and instead said quickly, "Just…hold on a sec—"

Mary threw her head back, knocking it into Melody's forehead. Melody fell back, dazed, clutching at her face and groaning. Dean had recovered and stood in front of their young mother, "What are you crazy?" She ignored him and punched him in the jaw instead. Dean stepped back, avoiding a second hit and grabbed hold of her arms, crossing them over her chest.

"You've been trailing us since my house." Mary grumbled but Dean just shook his head,

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, really?" she kneed him in the stomach causing Dean to release his grip on her arms. Before Mary could attack him again, Melody ran up and grabbed her left arm pulling it behind her again. Dean recovered quickly and grabbed Mary's right arm and both siblings threw the young woman up against the wall her back to them.

"Okay, how about we talk about this huh?" Dean panted from the fight.

"Let me go!" Mary growled, struggling against their hold. Melody just gripped her arm tighter feeling her mother still fighting them,

"Just calm down alright? Just…calm…" she trailed off having noticed the charm bracelet on Mary's left wrist. It was silver, and had small charms of various things on it. A tiny cross, pentagram, star of david…

Almost in perfect unison, both Dean and Melody released their holds on Mary—Dean having taken notice of the charm bracelet as well. The backed away from Mary a half step holding up their hands. Dean stared at her, "Are you a hunter?"

Melody watched her mother pant, glance down at her bracelet and she knew…right then and there she knew the answer to the question. "Oh dear god..."

* * *

_I told you! Blast from the past! This has always been one of my favorite episodes of the series. Young John and Mary are so cute together! I wish we could have seen more of them...oh well. Oh and what do you all think of Melody's nick name for Cas? She jumps between feathers and feather-head but they're basically the same thing. I got the idea of the nick name cause Space Jam was on today and I watched it and remembered that Bugs always calls Daffy feather-head. It's cute and punny...heh..._

_Anyways! Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	31. The Warning

**Woot woot! I don't know why I did that haha. But for realsies the next chapter is going to be awesome. Witches, Halloween, Melody gets to celebrate her b-day...sort of and we get to see more Cas! Now here's a question for everyone. Do you think Castiel would feel more (let's say "in the mood") when he's closer to being human? Or would he still feel it when he has his angel juice? It's something I've always wondered...just curious**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

Melody stood next to her brother, huddled behind a tree and holding her cardigan closed. The chilly night air was not helping _and_ the fact that she only had on a tank top underneath her sweater. "Seriously?" Dean grumbled feeling his sister lean in closer to him, "Don't you ever have something else on? Where's your jacket?"

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't counting on a freaking angel to send us back in time!" Melody hissed up at him, "If I had known I most certainly would have dressed for the occasion."

Dean just rolled his eyes at her but didn't say anything else when she picked up his arm and put it around her shoulders. He just rubbed her arm trying to help her fight off the cold night air and sunk them both deeper into the shadows. Their young parents had driven up in the Impala coming to a halt in front of the Campbell's house. They said a quick goodbye to each other, lingering a bit longer on their kiss. When Dean and his sister heard the Impala's engine fade away they came around the tree. Melody stepped out of her brother's hold and uncrossed her arms, trying to look…well, not like she was freaking out because she was standing in front of her _mom_ of all people.

Mary watched them warily, "Dean and…Melody right?" She glanced at her house and took in a deep breath, "I'm not sure you should come in."

"You can trust us." Dean said giving Mary a warm grin.

"Yeah," Melody added giving the young woman her best smile, "I mean, we're all hunters right?"

"Exactly." Dean agreed, "We're—we're practically family." Melody sent a quick, firm elbow into her brother's side and was grateful when Mary didn't notice it. Dean gave his sister a warning look but returned his attention to their mother when she sighed,

"The thing is—my dad—he's a little um…"

Dean held out his hand, "Oh…we've got to meet him."

"You've heard of him?" Mary asked, brow creasing. Melody stared at her, felt her mouth open and close several times before she settled on saying,

"Clearly not enough."

* * *

"So…you're a couple of hunters?" Melody couldn't help but stare in slight awe at the man sitting in the large arm chair in front of them. He was balding, with grey hair dusting his temples. He was a large, well-built man with thick brows, strong jaw and a sloping nose. This man…was her grandfather. She'd never really heard or known anything about him. The only piece of him she had was…her necklace.

Melody slowly reached up and tucked her necklace underneath the fabric of her tank top. It—supposedly—was made of a pair of crosses that had once belonged to her grandmother and grandfather…on her mother's side. It would be pretty awkward if they asked where she had gotten an identical pair. And Melody hoped that nobody had noticed her.

Thankfully it seemed like they hadn't, and her grandfather—eyes still glued to his open book—didn't even glance up at them while he continued his questions. "Well, tell me something Mr. Hunter—you kill vampires with wooden stakes or silver?"

The question was obviously for Dean and he just scoffed and answered, "Neither. You cut their heads off."

Grandpa Campbell seemed satisfied with that answer, "And you Miss Hunter? How do you kill a vengeful spirit?"

Melody shrugged, "Salt and burn the body. But…sometimes they can be attached to an object and you gotta burn that too." She could have sworn she saw Mary fighting back a grin as Dean asked,

"So do we pass your test?"

"Yep." Grandpa Campbell said and shut his book placing it on the coffee table near him, "Now get out of my house."

"Dad!" Mary groaned incredulously at her father.

He just glanced at her, "Sorry I don't trust other hunters. Don't want their help. Don't want them around my family."

"Knock it off, Samuel." Melody looked over her shoulder and saw who she assumed was her grandmother setting the kitchen table.

Samuel rolled his eyes, "They're hunters."

"Who passed you little pop quiz, and now I'm inviting them to dinner." Grandma Campbell walked into the living room and stood next to Dean and Melody. She glanced between the Winchesters, "You two hungry?"

Melody smiled and nodded while Dean grinned, "Starving."

"Good." Their grandmother smiled and held out her hand, "I'm Deanna. You've met my husband Samuel." Deanna shook both their hands firmly and Melody had to chew her lip to fight against the grin that was threatening to crawl across her face. "Now wash up." Deanna walked back to the kitchen.

Melody glanced at her brother and coughed, covering her mouth and trying to calm down her smile. Dean stared down at their mom, "Samuel and…Deanna?"

* * *

"So tell me, Melody, Dean…is this your first time in Lawrence?" Deanna asked her guests. Melody slowly chewed away at her food and glanced at her brother. They were sitting next to each other, across from Samuel. Dean was closer to their grandmother and Melody was sitting to her mom's right. It was probably one of the most awkward dinners she had ever been to.

"Well…" Dean said glancing at his sister, "it's been a while."

Melody sipped at her water, "Things sure have changed though…"

Samuel regarded the two hunters from across the table, "You working a job?"

"Yeah, maybe." Dean answered idly cutting at his food.

"What's that mean?" Melody honestly didn't know what that meant either and watched her brother shrug,

"It means we don't trust other hunters either, Samuel."

Melody glanced at everyone around the table, trying to give them all a gentle grin—trying to look like she didn't mean any of them harm. She most certainly didn't, but from the tension she could feel coming off of Samuel, she was afraid he would think they were a threat. Melody stabbed a carrot with her fork and popped it in her mouth not really tasting the food. This was just way too weird.

"Hey um…" Mary said watching the siblings, "so, why were you guys following me and John?"

"Oh—that." Melody grinned and sipped her water, "We uh…we thought something was after your…boyfriend."

Dean could see his sister struggling to keep a straight face and quickly added, "But we don't think that anymore."

"John Winchester mixing it up with spirits." Deanna half grinned and chuckled, "Can you imagine?"

_Oh…I certainly can. _Melody thought to herself, cutting up her food and eating away at it slowly. She stared at her plate, trying to hide the obvious bulge behind her tank top. Anyone with eyes could see she had a necklace on, and that it didn't belong underneath her clothes. The damn chain and crosses were too…lumpy beneath her shirt.

"I saw that." Melody felt her heart drop for a half second when she heard her mother's voice. But when she glanced up, she saw Mary staring at her father. _Oh thank god_. Melody let out a breath of relief; she did not want to have to explain that to anyone.

Samuel looked up from his food and stared at his daughter, "What?"

"That," Mary gestured to him, "sour-lemon look."

"Now hold on." Samuel quickly defended himself, "John's a really, really nice…naïve civilian."

Mary scoffed, "So what, would you rather me be with a guy like Dean?" she pointed across from Melody at her brother. Melody covered up her chuckle by taking a large gulp of her water.

"What?" Dean asked then realized Mary was talking about him and quickly shook his head, "No, no."

"Mary of course not." Samuel insisted, "It's just that I—"

"That's enough, both of you." Deanna spoke up from her seat, "We have company."

_Yep…most awkward family dinner—ever. _Melody pushed around her food, keeping her eyes fixed on the plate. She just wanted this dinner to be over. "So, what about you Sam?" Dean asked after a pause, "You uh…working a job?"

"Might be." Samuel clipped, sipping at his water. Mary rolled her eyes and clarified,

"He's working a job on the Whitshire Farm."

"Whitshire?" Melody felt her brow crease. Glancing over she saw Dean with the same look and asked, "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Well it's been all over the papers." Samuel answered, "Tom Whitshire. Got tangled up in a combine a few towns over."

Dean shrugged, "That kind of thing happens."

"Except why was he on it in the first place when his crops are all dead?" Samuel posed the question and Melody immediately caught on.

"Demonic omens." She said all but forgetting about her food now.

"That's what I got to find out." Samuel nodded. Melody had completely forgotten about her food now and was now intrigued. Dean was too and set down his fork before asking,

"What about the rest of the town? Did you find anything on the web?" Melody mentally face-palmed kicked her brother's foot underneath the table. Dean-realizing his mistake and seeing the odd looks he was getting from the Campbell's quickly covered what he had just asked, "Of…information that you have assembled?"

Deanna did not miss the quick exchange between the two hunters. It was obvious to her that these two were related, brother and sister most likely. They were almost identical. Same, large green eyes, same full lips. She opted to ignore their weird behavior and answered, "Electrical storms maybe. The weather service graphs should be here on Friday."

"By mail?" Dean asked and again Melody mentally face-palmed. How many times did she have to remind her brother that they were not in the twenty-first century anymore?

Samuel scoffed, "No we hired a jetliner to fly them to us overnight." Dean stared at him for a moment and then quickly laughed it off. Deanna again watched the two odd hunters. She stared at the girl, Melody. She was quite pretty with long gold-blonde hair. It looked a lot like Mary's hair color. Wait…Deanna watched Melody and Mary take a sip of their waters almost in perfect unison. No, Deanna shrugged off the weird sensations and warning bells going off in her head. These two hunters weren't related to her or her family. It was just a common hair color—that's all.

"You know," Dean said glancing at his sister, "it sounds to me like we might be hunting the same thing." He leaned his arms on the table top—Samuel copying his movements, "You know if we go in there in numbers we'll take care of this real quick."

Samuel watched Dean carefully, and—almost as if in a warning—grumbled, "What part of "we work alone" do you not understand son?"

* * *

"You told her?!" Melody cried in frustration. She stared at her brother in the driver's seat and he just stared at the road. They were heading to Daniel Elkins' place in Colorado, planning on stealing the colt away from him. They had investigated the Whitshire farm earlier that day, and found out from the Whitshire son that a certain yellow eyed demon had visited him and—the kid had inadvertently made a deal with the thing. Thanks to their father's journal, they knew where the demon would hit next and were heading to Colorado to steal the colt, and finish off yellow eyes once and for all.

Now Melody was practically screaming at her brother in the car, staring at him with wide eyes from the passenger seat. He had just told her about his goodbye to their young mother. Melody had given her own quick goodbyes to their grandparents and even to Mary, but she hadn't told Mary to _not get out of bed on November 2, 1983! _

She threw back her head, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I cannot believe you! What the hell were you thinking Dean?!"

"I was thinking about saving our mom! _Your_ mom! The woman who you don't even have a _memory_ of!" Dean roared, tired of hearing all of the bullshit from his sister.

"I just…" she sighed, deflated and realizing she was letting her temper get the better of her, "Dean there are some things that can't be changed—"

"Don't even start with that crap Mels." He growled, pressing his foot harder into the pedal. Melody just watched him, saw his angry features and let out a huff of frustrated air. She felt her jaw clench, and reached up her hands and scratched at her scalp. Melody tried to calm herself down, tried counting backwards from ten so she wouldn't reach over and punch her brother in the mouth and glanced up at him again. He wasn't saying a word, and just had a look of dead-set determination on his face.

She knew when he was done talking. And now was definitely one of those times. Melody, sitting sideways in her seat—seat belt completely forgotten—leaned her arm against the back of the seat and stared out the back window. The road was glistening from the moonlight—

"Ahh!" she screamed jumping up, back digging into the dashboard. She had watched Castiel appear—literally appear in the back seat. He was sitting in the middle, hands placed on top of his knees, back straight. The angel was staring out the front window, having not taken notice or not cared about scaring Melody.

Luckily Dean hadn't really reacted to his sister's scream. Only jumped up in his seat before glancing in the rearview mirror and seeing the angel sitting there. Melody panted, heart beating wildly in her chest and stared at the angel before shouting at him—mostly out of anger, than surprise.

"What…the fuck is your deal? I mean, ever heard of a damn phone call or…or not scaring the crap out of someone?!" Castiel only stared at her, eyes crimping at the edges showing his confusion at her. Melody huffed and moved back to her seat, making sure to face the angel. "Just don't do it again." She grumbled crossing her arms over her chest.

Dean stared at his sister, wondering why she was so worked up—then reminded himself she had just been yelling at him not half a minute ago. Maybe it was the stress of this job, or maybe it was her time of the month. Eugh…Dean shuddered not wanting to think about that and instead glanced back at Castiel, "So…what is God my copilot or something? Is that it?" The angel only gave dean the same look of slight confusion and didn't answer. Dean just sighed, "Oh, you're a regular chatty cathy."

Melody, having calmed down stared at Castiel and pressed, "So tell me…why didn't you bring Sam with us?"

"Yeah," Dean agreed, "Sam would have wanted in on this. Why not bring him back?"

Castiel seemed to consider his answer. Thinking hard about what he should say. Melody thought she saw a fleeting look of resignation before he said, "You had to do this by yourselves."

"Well, that's a straight answer." Melody scoffed at him. Seriously, this angel has been doing nothing but getting on her last nerve lately. First he hardly tells her anything about why they are here. Then he goes and creeps on her dream again and the only reason is because he apparently liked her dreams? What the hell kind of twisted crap is that? For all Melody knew, this guy would turn on them and they would be powerless against him. They had no way of knowing how to take him out—and that put Melody on edge every time she was around him. That and the fact that every time the guy even _glanced_ at her, she felt so freaking vulnerable. No man—angel or no angel had ever been able to make her feel like that. _Ever_. It was just not normal.

"And you don't care that he's tearing up the future looking for us right now?" Dean's voice brought Melody back out of her inner thoughts. She hadn't thought about Sam at all while they were here in freaking nineteen seventy three. He was probably worried sick about them.

"Sam's not looking for you." Castiel answered only receiving a shocked look from Melody. She obviously hadn't been expecting that answer. He watched her again, feeling that little spark of longing again. He glanced away from her trying to shake off the odd things he was feeling and the even weirder things going off in his head. The vessel kept getting warm—especially in the car now. The face would heat up, palms would go all clammy and the heart would start to beat a lot faster.

He looked at Melody again; she was watching him carefully and sucked in her bottom lip, chewing on it thoughtfully. Castiel looked away from her—it was beginning to get stifling in the car now. Dean sighed, distracting him from the other hunter in the car, "Alright if we do this…then the family curse breaks right? Mom and dad live happily ever after, Sam and I grow up…playing little league and chasing tail and Mels gets to play music and break hearts?"

"You realize," Castiel began, deep, gruff voice echoing up at them from the backseat, "if you do alter the future. Your father, you, Sam, Melody…you'll never become hunters. And all those people you saved, they'll die."

"What?" Melody gasped, not thinking that that would happen. She hadn't even thought about that possibility.

"I realize." Dean clipped at him, ignoring his sister's face.

"And you don't care?" Castiel asked him.

"Oh I care." He answered, "I care a lot." He paused, saw his sister's face fall slightly. Whether it was out of relief or disappointment he wasn't quite sure. "But these are my parents. I'm not gonna let them die again."

"Dean…" Melody sighed staring at her brother. She felt the same but…could she live with herself knowing that she was going to be basically killing all of the people they had ever saved?

"I can't." Dean shook his head, "Not if I can stop it." Melody nodded solemnly, he was right. They did have a chance to stop it all from happening. And wouldn't it be better growing up as a normal family then whatever the hell they were now?

"Well, feather-head I guess—" she stared at the now empty back seat and rolled her eyes, "I hate it when he does that."

* * *

"Oh this is so stupid!" Melody growled wrapping her arms tighter around her stomach. They had stolen the colt, rather successfully and without any major hiccups from Daniel Elkins and had managed to get back to the Walsh farm. However they were too late, and by the time they arrived, Samuel and Mary had already beaten them. The demon had had a hold of Mary and was blocking Dean's shot with his mother's body. The demon unfortunately got away and after questioning Mary, had learned that the demon mentioned something about liking her. Of course this had set off warning bells in both Dean and his sister. But, instead of sticking together like Melody wanted, Dean told her to keep an eye on Mary.

Melody had tracked and followed her parents. As soon as Mary had gotten home, she made a discreet call to John begging him to come get her. Once he was there, she pleaded with him to take her away. And, Dean had instructed her to stay close to their mother, so that's what she was doing. It was sweet really, watching the younger versions of her parents interact with each other. They really were in love. She could see it in the way John would watch every little movement her mother would make. And her mom would just seem to light up at the sight of her dad. Melody realized how much she wanted someone look at her like that, and make her feel like that.

She knew she was an attractive girl, and had used it to her advantage several times. But she was much like her older brother in that she would flirt with any cute guy she ever came across, use them for what she wanted and then dump them as soon as things got a bit too serious for her liking. Probably the longest "relationship" Melody had ever had with another man was about a week. And even then it was just to meet up and spend the night together…rolling in the sheets.

"What are you doing?" Melody jumped three feet in the air and turned around to find the angel, Castiel standing just behind her…a bit too close.

"Uh…" Melody stepped back a half step, distancing them, "f-following my parents. Keeping an eye on them."

"Your brother needs your help." Castiel reached out two fingers to her. Melody just swatted his hand away,

"Cool your jets feather-head. Dean can handle himself. And I don't trust your zapping skills. You didn't even send me and Dean to the same place the first time around. In fact, you landed me in the middle of a damn busy street! So…keep your fingers to yourself." She huffed and turned back to watch her parents again. They had driven off in John's new Impala and were currently parked by a lake and bridge. Melody had followed, keeping her stolen car's headlights off and—luckily—her mother hadn't seen Melody following.

"Will you be alright on your own?" Castiel asked her almost hesitantly. Melody turned around to face him again, crossed her arms over her chest and grinned up at him.

"You're cute when you worry about me." She lightly patted his cheek, feeling the rough, unshaven skin underneath her fingers. Her face went from light-hearted to deadly serious in a flash and she sighed, "But really Castiel? I'm fine. Go…do angel stuff or whatever."

She looked back at her parents who were talking excitedly in the car. She didn't see Castiel slowly reach up and touch his cheek where her fingers had just been, or the slightly confused look he gave her before disappearing altogether. Melody glanced back, saw he had left and sighed…finally. He annoyed her to no end.

_BANG BANG BANG_

Melody whipped her head around and cursed. Her grandfather, Samuel Campbell, was leaning into the car shouting at Mary. She heard Mary shout at him as Samuel quickly reached in and yanked her out of the car. Melody groaned…now was not the time for family drama. She heard her father yell out of the car at him, "Sir just listen!"

"Ow!" Mary shouted trying to shake off Samuel's hold, "Dad!"

"Stay away from her!" Samuel screamed pointing at John who was coming around to the back of the car.

"Dad! You're hurting me!" Mary yelled at him. Melody slowly moved forward, getting the feeling that this wasn't a family issue. Samuel seemed a bit too violent. Sure he had been a pretty salty asshole earlier, but he had never seemed like the kind of man to handle his daughter so roughly.

John, seeing Mary struggling reached out and tried to separate her and Samuel, "Hey, take it easy!"

Samuel let go of Mary when John touched him, reached up grabbed the young man by the throat and twisted his head to the side. Melody heard the tell-tale cracking noises and screamed completely forgetting about being stealthy and ran out of her cover in the trees and bushes.

"No! Dad!" Melody cried, letting her powers boil up and ran to Samuel. Almost immediately she could feel the waves of stale air coming off of him. That wasn't her grandfather…it was…no…

Ignoring the dread that washed over her she ran up to Samuel and punched him square across the jaw. Samuel fell back a few steps, stunned and not expecting a third party to show up but quickly recovered ducking and avoiding Melody's second hit. He stood back up, grinned and reached out taking hold of her neck. He squeezed her throat and Melody coughed and wheezed fighting for air as she clawed at his hand.

Mary had fallen to the ground, catching the now limp body of John in her arms and holding his head in her lap. She glanced up and saw the young hunter she had met just yesterday fighting against her dad's hold as he lifted her off the ground a few inches by the neck.

Azazel revealed himself, eyes going pale, sickly yellow. He grinned at Melody still holding her off the ground, gripping her neck tightly. "Boy have you got spunk. Just like your mother huh?" Azazel lifted her up a few more inches and then threw Melody to the ground.

Melody groaned, feeling a number of fresh bruises on her back and legs, coughing and gasping for air. She quickly sat back up, intending to fight Azazel until Dean could get his ass to her. But Azazel just chuckled and flicked his hand out at her. Melody felt a force grip her arms and legs, her back going pin straight as she was basically now glued to the spot near her father's legs.

"Sit a spell darling. Me and Mary gotta have a chat."

Mary having watched the whole scene stared up at Azazel, "You killed him."

"Oh, not just John sweetie pie." He kneeled down and slowly unzipped his jacket revealing a dark red circle on his stomach, "Mommy and daddy too. They're all dead."

"No…" Mary shook her head, mouth agape as she watched the man who she thought was her father; give her a slightly sympathetic but incredibly cold shrug.

"Yep, 'fraid so. You're little orphan Mary now."

"You piece of shit." Melody grumbled from her spot and heard Mary take in a sharp breath and growl up at Azazel,

"You son of a bitch!"

The demon feigned offense glancing between the two, "Oh, sticks and stones may break my bones." He leaned in closer to Mary, "And they won't bring your family back either."

"I'll kill you. I _swear_ to _God_." Mary said in a strong, unwavering voice.

"Yeah, I'll help." Melody sneered at the demon who just grinned at her. He moved to sit down on the ground next to Mary and regarded her coldly,

"Oh…ladies let's not get nasty. Now look," he said watching Mary closely, "we've all said some things that we regret—me and you especially. Let's uh…kiss and make up."

Melody snarled, "You keep your filthy hands off her you fu—" Azazel tossed his hand out and Melody felt her head whip to the side as a force slapped her across the face. She had forgotten how strong this asshole was. She just grimaced, spit out the little bit of blood that had pooled into her mouth and looked back at him.

"Hush now sugar. Grown-ups are talking." He looked back at Mary, "I'll tell you what. I'll arrange to have lover boy here brought back breathing."

A few more tears fell down Mary's cheeks, "My parents too?"

"Nope." Azazel answered, shrugging casually, "Sorry doll. That's not on the table. Think about it. You could be done with hunting forever. The white picket fence, station wagon, a few kids. No more monsters or fear. I'll make sure of it."

"What?" Mary asked through her tears, "And all it costs is my soul?"

"Oh no. You can keep your soul. I just need permission."

"For what?" Mary asked but Melody quickly shook her head trying to get Mary to not take the deal.

Azazel ignored Melody and answered Mary, "Mm, in ten years I need to swing by your house for a little something, that's all."

"_For_…_what_?" Mary asked again with a bit more fire.

"Relax." Azazel all but warned her. Mary seemed to get it and stayed silent so he continued, "As long as I'm not interrupted, nobody gets hurt. I promise." He winked playfully at her. Mary looked back down at John's body seeming to weigh her options. Azazel spoke up again, "Or you can spend the rest of your life desperate and alone. Mary? It's a good deal."

Melody shook her head, "No it's not—mom don't do it." Mary flicked her head up to look at the other girl. Had she just said…?

Azazel laughed, "Oh come on now Mary, you don't see it?" Mary stared hard at Melody; she had thought she heard the girl scream out "dad" when the demon had killed John. But…no it couldn't be. The demon threw back his head, "You know you may be good Mary, but you ain't _that_ good. Come on now look at her. She's a spittin image of your precious John…though; she did get your pretty hair and your spunk."

He reached out and picked up a piece of Melody's golden hair playing with it between his fingers. "Is it true?" Mary asked her, trembling.

Melody grimaced at the demon who dropped her hair. She looked over at Mary and couldn't help but give her a tiny smile, "Didn't want you to find out like this. Sorry about that."

The hunters watched each other for a long moment. Mary stared hard at Melody and…and she could see it. John's large green eyes, his chin and his nose…it was all there. "You're…you're my—"

Azazel sighed impatiently, "Daughter, baby girl, chip off the old block. Now Mary, since you know what could be a possibility in your future—your own daughter, shopping, hair, make-up, boys, all that mother daughter stuff—what do you say?"

Melody quickly shook her head, "No…no mom please don't. Mom listen to me just—ah!" she screamed feeling her whole body get thrown up into the air. She landed hard on the ground several feet away from her mother and father and the demon. Azazel had had enough of her, and tossed her aside—literally.

She gasped; having landed on her back and felt all of the air escape her lungs. She fell over on her side, fighting back as her body kept wanting to pass out from lack of air. Before long, Melody saw headlights come around the corner.

Dean stopped the car, seeing his sister laying near unconsciousness in front of his now parked car and his mother and the demon…kissing. Sealing a deal. "No!" Dean screamed getting out of the car and whipping out the colt. He pulled back the hammer, only to see Azazel's pale yellow eyes flash at him through his grandfather's body before he threw back his head and screamed. Black smoke escaped his mouth and before long, Samuel's lifeless body slumped to the ground.

Melody felt Dean stoop down and lift her up. "Dean…" she wheezed and coughed gripping his arm as she leaned into him, "I…I couldn't…"

"It's okay Mels…you tried you…you tried." He said seeing his sister fight back tears as he was doing the same. The heard a flutter and flap of wind against fabric and felt a hand on each of their shoulders. Melody and Dean both looked back seeing Castiel standing behind them with his most sympathetic look. Glancing back to see her parents one last time, Melody saw her father moving underneath her mother's arms.

At least they were alive and together…for now.

* * *

"No!" Melody gasped, jerking awake. She heard Dean take in a sharp breath next to her and glanced down to find him lying next to her. She was sitting up in the bed, journal tucked next to her legs, black smudges all over her fingers. It was like they hadn't actually left the motel room. Dean slowly sat up, throwing his jacket off of his arms and stared at his sister. Both knew what the other was thinking. They had failed—miserably.

She glanced over; standing near the foot of their bed was Castiel. He was staring at the far wall, slightly hunched in the back but otherwise not moving. Dean sat on the edge of the bed, back facing away from his sister and feet on the ground. He watched the angel, "We…we couldn't stop any of it. She still made the deal. She still died in the nursery didn't she?"

"Don't be too hard on yourself." Castiel said to them, eyes never leaving the wall. "You couldn't have stopped it."

Slowly, Melody stood up from her spot and walked around the foot of the bed. She stared hard at Castiel's back, "What are you talking about?"

"Destiny can't be changed Melody." He answered her. Melody just shook her head and threw out her arms, confused and annoyed. Castiel turned to face them, "All roads lead to the same destination, Dean."

"Then why'd you send us back?" Dean asked, incredulous.

"For the truth." The angel replied simply, "Now you know everything we do."

Melody threw back her head and let out a sharp sigh of frustration before boring her eyes down on Castiel, "Look feather-head. Either you start making sense or...I mean, what the hell are you even talking about?"

In answer, Castiel turned his head away from them and stared at the empty bed. The sheets and blankets weren't even upturned. "Where's Sam?" Dean asked pointing at the bed.

"We know what Azazel did to your brother. What we don't know is why—what his endgame is." Castiel moved his eyes from the bed back to Dean, "He went to great lengths to cover that up."

"Where…is Sam?" Melody asked him again, this time with a bit more fire in her voice. Castiel looked at her, blue eyes reflecting the moonlight outside. If Melody hadn't been so angry or frustrated or hell even worried, she'd probably have gotten all flustered at his hard, brooding stare.

"425 Waterman." Castiel answered and the Winchesters immediately started gathering their things. Melody quickly grabbed up her pencils and journal, luckily she hadn't brought in anything else from the car. Dean had only brought his jacket and was quickly pulling it on. "Your brother is headed down a dangerous road. And we're not sure where it leads."

Dean was listening and pulled out his gun, checking it for ammo and slammed the magazine back into place. He knew Melody had left her pistol in the car and wasn't concerned when she just stood by the bed and watched the angel. Castiel continued, "So stop it." He moved his eyes over to the siblings, "Or we will."

Melody felt a snarl crawl up her throat, "Don't make threats feather-head. I may not know how to kill you now, but I am a pretty damn fast learner."

Before she could threaten Castiel further, or even hear what he had to say back, she felt Dean start shuffling her out of the motel room. Before long, they were gone from the place and headed down the road. Melody had a map opened up in her lap and was directing Dean to the address Castiel had given them.

"You know, you really shouldn't be threatening an angel." Dean mumbled watching the road carefully. He heard his sister let out a short, breathy laugh,

"Please. You and I both know that everything has a weakness. We just gotta find the one for angels."

Dean let the conversation end, focusing on the road. Occasionally his sister would call out where he should turn or how far he had. Other than that they didn't really speak, or feel the need to. They were both dead set on finding out where the hell their brother was, and why angels are interested in it.

They arrived at the address. It was an old abandoned warehouse, probably an old metal factory of some kind. They got out of the car, seeing a canary yellow mustang parked several feet away. Melody pulled out the colt, getting a strange look from Dean. She ignored it and shrugged as if to say "you never know" and followed after her brother, stuffing the pistol into the back belt loop of her pants.

It wasn't that hard to find Sam. They just had to listen for the voices. And…Melody's senses helped out too. If she really focused her mind, and just tried to smell things—not listen or anything else—she could pick up a very faint scent. Stale, old and decaying. For a moment she felt like a freaking bloodhound, leading Dean around and occasionally sticking her nose up into the air. But…this was necessary. No matter how weird she looked right now.

She led her brother to a building just off of the main factory building. Dean was the one to open up the door. It was unlocked, and he gently cracked it open. Just enough so that he and his sister could pop their heads inside. They watched the whole scene unfold.

Sam with his back to them, a girl—Melody recognized the same petite brunette from before—standing next to Sam. And a man, tied down to a metal chair underneath a crudely made metal devil's trap. He was taunting Sam, calling him a "big hero". Then he mentioned something about Sam and the "demon bitch". He implied that they were…together. Like…together together. Melody couldn't quite believe that part. But…she could believe what she was seeing.

Her little brother seemed to regard the demon in the chair coldly before reaching out and raising his hand, palm facing the demon in the chair. And in a few seconds flat, the demon started gagging and coughing, black smoke billowing out of his mouth. The smoke pooled around the chair, before disappearing into the floor leaving scorch marks in its wake.

"Dean did he…" Melody whispered watching Sam kneel down next to the empty body. And she was astonished to see the guy lift his head up, dazed but…alive. Dean didn't answer, just grimaced and pulled open the door and stepped inside. Melody automatically followed.

"So…" Dean said stepping inside, Melody right behind him. Sam placed the man back into the chair and Melody watched his "girlfriend" tense up. She could still smell the stale air in the room and wrinkled her nose in slight disgust at it as Dean continued, "anything you want to tell us Sam?"

"Dean, Melody," Sam held out a hand, "hold on okay? Just let me—"

"You gonna say "let me explain"?" Dean grumbled moving closer and closer to them. He pointed at the girl and the chair, "You gonna explain this?" He came to a stop feeling Melody step up on his left side. She kept a close eye on the girl as Dean sneered, "How about this, why don't you start with who she is and what the hell is she doing here?"

Sam didn't seem to have an answer and only glanced at his companion. The brunette grinned at the older Winchester siblings, "It's good to see you two again."

That's when Melody connected all the dots. The smell, the air, and the way she seemed to remember them. "Ruby?" she asked staring hard the face in front of her.

"Is that Ruby?" Dean asked Sam for confirmation. The youngest just nodded. It was barely perceptible, but it was enough for Dean. He looked back at the demon and chuckled before running up and slamming Ruby into a stack of metal shelves, pulling out the demon knife and aiming for her heart.

"Dean wait!" Sam cried running up and grabbing his brother's arm pulling the knife out of his hand. Letting out a loud grunt, Dean shoved Sam away from him. Sam fell into the wall, knocking over several different items in the process. Ruby snarled and grabbed Dean by the throat before shoving his back into the same shelves she had been pressed into.

Melody had had enough. She let her rage consume her, and blinked her silver orbs before reaching out and taking hold of the back of Ruby's head. With her fingers wound tightly in Ruby's hair she pulled, heard Ruby yelp in pain and whipped out the colt from the back of her jeans. Pressing the muzzle of the gun to the demon's head she pulled back the hammer and felt Ruby freeze and tense up in front of her.

"Melody!" Sam shouted, distracting his sister for half a second. But it was enough. Ruby flipped around and kicked Melody in the stomach sending her falling backwards several steps. The demon felt Dean move and quickly turned, grabbed him by the throat and shoved him against the shelves again.

"Ruby, stop it." Sam all but ordered before seeing his sister recover and point the revolver at Ruby again.

"Oh no don't stop. I've been waiting to do this for a long time." Melody sneered and pressed the muzzle of the gun against Ruby's temple.

The demon grimaced, gave Dean and Melody a cold stare and released her hold on Dean stepping back from them. Dean grinned, "Well aren't you an obedient little bitch?"

Melody heard Ruby let out a long, slow breath as she seemed to be fighting back her own fury. Melody never lowered her gun arm though, and kept it trained on the demon's skull. "Ruby." Sam said slightly winded but he got her attention. "Ruby, go. He's hurt." Sam gestured to the man in the chair. The demon seemed a bit reluctant but moved to pick up the man, slinging his arm over her shoulders.

"The hell do you think you're going?" Dean asked her, seeing his sister slowly lower her gun arm.

"The E.R." Ruby answered then sneered, "Unless you want to go another round first." Melody snarled but felt her older brother take hold of her shoulder, telling her to cool her jets. She did and just watched Ruby smirk before walking away from them.

Dean caught his sister's eye and jerked his head, telling her it was time for them to leave. Melody didn't look back at her younger brother, but Dean did…if only to give him a hurt look. Melody stuffed the colt back into her jeans and heard Sam call out after them, "Dean…Melody."

They got to the door, Dean holding it open for his sister to walk through. Neither looked back this time when Sam called out again, "Melody! Dean!"

* * *

_September 30, 2008_

_I don't…I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to be thinking right now. We just found out everything Sam's been doing. Exorcising demons with his mind, paling around with freaking Ruby! I mean it's…it's insane. And the worst part? Castiel told us that we have to stop Sam from doing this, that the angels don't want him to do what he's been doing anymore. And who gives the order upstairs? God! G-O-D, God! If he doesn't want Sam doing this then…then it has to be bad. I mean, yes he does get rid of the demon without killing or harming the victim but…but it just doesn't feel right. And the worst part? I know with every ounce in my body, that if I had been there for Sam. If I hadn't have been so damn stubborn and just…got off my ass and searched for him. I could have probably prevented this from happening. I feel like this is my fault. I was the oldest during that time, I should have been looking out for Sam._

_And now here we are. I know Dean is thinking the same thing. He won't say it, but I know he is. And so is Sam. Hell I bet even Bobby would think that too. It's my fault that Sam is being threatened by the big man upstairs. It's my fault he's been hanging out with smelly ass Ruby. It's my fault he's so far gone…my fault I can hardly look at him without feeling so guilty I want to just bury my face in sand and never come out again._

* * *

_October 23, 2008_

_Well…that was probably the weirdest case we've ever had. Well there was the one before that with the shapeshifter who basically locked us in his fantasy horror movie world. That was interesting. But this last one? Dean got a case of ghost sickness—the spirit literally effected Dean with fear and it intensifies until the victim's heart gives out. We eventually figured it out but…I watched my brother run away in fear from a tiny little yorkie. Yeah, one of those itty bitty dogs that just yap and skuttle around everywhere. Ha! There was this little incident when we were investigating the old factory and Dean got scared by a cat! He screamed like a little girl! If only I had gotten that on video…Dean is really funny when he's scared. Ha!_

_Bobby helped us out though. We had to literally scare the ghost to death. Yeah, complicated and if you think too hard about it it'll make your head spin. But we did it, and Dean is cured. Anyways I think maybe I'll try to get some sleep. We've got a lot of traveling tomorrow._

* * *

_Let me know what you all think in regards to my question at the top. I'm curious and your answers will definitely help me with the story. I'm trying to figure out the pacing of the romance, I want to get it perfect._

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	32. Worst Birthday Ever

**Sorry this chapter took a little bit longer to upload. Now that school has started back up it's getting a little harder to dedicate more time to the story, and honestly I wish I could dedicate practically all of my time to writing. Anyways, this chapter has a lot of talking in the beginning, but it's important and we get to see Melody get all squirmy and uncomfortable around Cas more. I have fun with those parts. Watching our strong, never back down hunter practically turn to mush when she's around Castiel is kind of funny. At least in my opinion :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody**

* * *

"Mels you gonna take all night in there or what?" Melody groaned, hearing her older brother yell at her from the other side of the bathroom door. She returned her attention to the mirror in front of her,

"If you keep distracting me then yes I will." Melody sighed, leaning her hands against the sink and stared at herself in the mirror. "Just…a little bit…more…" she stared at her eye and dabbed ever so lightly on the already existing dark liner. She had suddenly felt the urge to actually put some effort into her make up that day. And as her brothers had been out investigating a case, she got bored and started playing with her liquid eye liner. She'd always had a bottle of the stuff and had used it a few times but it was so damn time consuming to put it on correctly she just normally forgot about the stuff.

Lately though…she'd been making sure to look decent every day. For some reason she'd been wanting to look more presentable. To make it seem like she'd actually put effort into her look for the day. It had nothing to do with the possibility of seeing a certain angel. And Melody told herself that over and over to the point where she actually believed it.

"And…there!" she put down the little brush and blinked her eyes staring at the dark, wispy cat-like lines. Melody smiled and gave a little triumphant cheer, "I am a freaking pro."

"Mels! Seriously we need your help on this!" Dean pounded on the door again eliciting a loud groan from his sister. She rolled her eyes, stuffed all of her make-up back into her bag and threw open the door.

"I'm done alright?" she grumbled impatiently, grabbing her cosmetic bag and walking around him. She found her duffle and started stuffing the smaller pouch in her hand into the duffle. Dean just rolled his eyes at her and moved back to the table in the corner.

"Now that you're done putting your face on can we get down to business?"

Melody just huffed at him and—not really wanting to deal with his attitude—grabbed up an old book from the table and plopped herself down on a bed stretching her legs out in front of her. "Where did you get those boots?" Dean asked pointing down to Melody's shoes.

"Oh," she rolled her ankles, making the tan leather of her knee high boots creak, "well when you were…dead…I kind of went a little crazy. Shopping therapy I guess."

Dean chuckled and pointed to the foot of her bed, "Does that explain the two bags instead of just one?" She looked down and saw him pointing at her two large duffels. One an army green—once owned by their father—and the other a pale brown that she had bought herself.

"Hey, everyone grieves differently. Mine just involved a lot more money." She returned her attention back to her book, having effectively ended the conversation. She did not want to think back to those hard months, alone, working her ass off and then idiotically spending almost all of her hard earned money on useless things like clothes and shoes.

Sam, having watched the whole exchange from his spot on the bed next to his sister chuckled at his siblings and returned his attention to his laptop. They had run into two victims, back to back. The first day a man, Luke Wallace, died from swallowing four razor blades while eating candy. The next day, a young high school girl had died from being boiled alive while bobbing for apples at a Halloween party.

Speaking of Halloween, it was nearly Melody's birthday. Tomorrow she would be twenty-seven years old. Sam felt a little bad for her. They almost always had to deal with something on her birthday. Halloween tended to bring out the worst in everyone in the supernatural world. Especially witches, and that's exactly what they were dealing with. They had found hex bags at both crime scenes. And both had the same rare things stuffed inside them. First they had found Goldthread—an herb that hadn't been seen for at least two-hundred years, an ancient Celtic coin (at least six-hundred years old) and a charred ancient meta-carpal bone of a newborn baby.

The Winchesters read and researched for a good ten minutes in silence before Dean sighed, "I'm telling you two, both of these vics are squeaky-clean. There was no reason for wicked-bitch payback."

"Maybe cause it's not about that." Sam said from his spot on the bed next to his sister. Melody sat up in her spot, trying to get a look at the large text in her little brother's hands.

"Wow. Insightful." Melody didn't miss Dean's sarcastic tone and shot a warning look over at him before looking back at Sam.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe this witch isn't working a grudge." Sam pointed at his open book, "Maybe they're working a spell. Check this out. "Three blood sacrifices over three days—the last before midnight on the final day of the final harvest"."

He stood up and handed the book to Dean. Melody stood up as well and moved over to stand behind her older brother to stare down at the open book, "Wait," she said staring at the text, "on the Celtic calendar—the final day of the final harvest is October thirty-first."

"You mean…Halloween slash your birthday?" Dean asked gesturing up at her. Melody swatted his hand away,

"It isn't my fault I was born on the day where everyone decides to go crazy."

Sam chuckled and lightly patted his sister's arm telling her without words that he felt for her. Dean just grinned at his sister's cynical views of her birthday and glanced back down at the book, "What exactly are the blood sacrifices for?"

"Well if I'm right," Sam pointed at a picture in the book, "this witch is summoning a demon. And not just any demon—Samhain."

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Dean asked glancing up from the book. Melody just sighed, feeling a cold chill run up her spine,

"Dean, Samhain is the damn origin of Halloween. The Celts believed that October thirty-first was the one night of the year when the veil was thinnest between the living world and the world of the dead."

"Yeah and it was Samhain's night," the youngest Winchester continued explaining the legend, "I mean, masks were put on to hide from him, sweets left on doorsteps to appease him, faces carved into pumpkins to worship him. He was exorcised centuries ago."

"Okay," Dean nodded in understanding, "so even though Samhain took a trip downstairs, the tradition stuck."

Melody and Sam nodded, "Exactly." She said picking up a near empty beer bottle and sipped at it while the youngest continued,

"Only now instead of demons and blood orgies, Halloween is about kids, candy and costumes."

Dean leaned his elbows against the table, "Okay so some witch wants to raise Samhain and take back the night?"

Sam rolled his eyes, "Dean this is serious."

"I am serious." The oldest quickly defended himself, but Sam wouldn't believe him,

"We're talking heavyweight witchcraft. This ritual can only be performed every six-hundred years."

Melody sat against the table, "And this six-hundred year mark rolls around…"

"Tomorrow night." Sam finished for her. Both Melody and Dean rolled their eyes while the oldest just groaned,

"Naturally." He looked back down at the book where a black and white drawing of Samhain the demon stood atop a pile of bodies, "Well it sure is a lot of death and destruction for one demon."

"That's cause he likes company." Sam explained, "Once he's raised, Samhain can do some raising of his own."

Dean felt his brow crease, "Raising what exactly?"

"Dark, evil crap and lots of it." Melody stared at her younger brother and let out a sharp breath,

"What so they follow him around like the friggin pied piper?"

Sam just nodded solemnly while Dean sighed, "So we're talking ghosts?"

"Yep." The youngest nodded and his sister seemed to catch on,

"Zombies?" Again, Sam confirmed it. Melody let out a long breath. This was the worst birthday…ever.

"Leprechauns?" Dean asked eliciting an eye roll from Sam,

"Dean…"

"What?" he shrugged and avoided the swat from Melody, "I'm just saying those little dudes are scary. Small hands."

"Look," Sam said deadly serious, all jokes set aside, "it just starts with ghosts and ghouls. This sucker keeps on going, by night's end; we are talking every awful thing we've ever seen, everything we fight all in one place."

Melody groaned, "Yeah…worst birthday ever…" Dean glanced at her, tried to give her a sympathetic look but all he could manage was a deep frown as they both contemplated what Sam had just told them. Dean let out a short, humorless chuckle,

"It's gonna be a slaughterhouse."

* * *

"I've heard there was a secret chord…" Melody mumbled to the song playing on her headphones. She idly paced the motel room, having been confined—again—to waiting in the damn room for her brothers. So she had been spending her time researching, trying to learn everything she could about Samhain and the legend of Halloween. Apparently, people believed that children born on Halloween were a bit more sensitive to the other side. And…Melody had to admit that that was a bit creepy and true. She'd always been surrounded by the supernatural so it wouldn't surprise her if she was pretty intuitive when it came to the other side. However, she'd always been able to…feel things. She couldn't really explain it. She was no psychic that was for damn sure. But she'd always been a pretty perceptive person.

She flipped through the old text as the song continued, "It goes like, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall the major lift. The baffled king composing Hallelujah…" she chewed her lip, humming to the tune. As the song continued and Melody idly sang along…she couldn't help but notice a change in the air. Shrugging it off as the AC coming on she just let the song fade.

"Quite the singing voice."

The hunter jumped, whipped around—pulling out her gun—and pointed it straight at a tall, dark skinned man standing at the far end of the room. He was neatly dressed in a blue suit and pale blue shirt. His black dress shoes shined in the dim lights of the room.

"Melody…"

She whipped around again, hearing a second voice behind her now, only to find Castiel standing right behind her. He didn't flinch away from her pistol, only regarded her with neutral eyes. "Jesus…what the _hell_ Cas?" Melody clicked back the safety of her weapon before stuffing it into the back belt loop of her jeans.

"I am sorry, Melody. But this is urgent." Castiel said coolly, walking around her and assessing the room. He bent down and picked up the discarded text she had just been holding, along with her mp3 player. Castiel turned around and handed them to her, not really noticing the way she stared at him with wide, slightly fearful eyes.

Melody took the book and mp3 and carelessly tossed them onto one of the beds. "Do you…do you ever knock or something?" she asked impatiently, heart beating wildly in her chest.

He turned and stared at her; Melody couldn't help but feel…something. Honestly it was most likely resignated fear. She still felt odd around the angel. She glanced over at his companion who had yet to turn around to face her and instead stared out the window. Melody raised a hand to point at him, mouth opening in question…only to shut it quickly when she heard the motel room door open.

Sam, immediately recognizing that his sister was standing in the middle of the room with two strangers went into protector mode. He pulled out his gun and ran up to Melody, pulling her behind him while shouting, "Hey! Who are you?!"

Dean having recognized the angel Castiel ran in and took hold of his brother's arm while his sister did the same and both called to him. "Sam hold on!"

"Sam, Sam wait!" The youngest paused and stared down at his older siblings while Dean let out a short breath and lowered his brother's gun, "It's Castiel…the angel."

"Him," Melody pointed at the dark figure near the window, "we don't know."

Castiel turned around to face the Winchesters and walked up to the youngest, "Hello Sam." He greeted in a neutral tone, although there was a hint of warmth there. Then again, Melody could have just been foolishly hoping that the angel could show any form of emotion.

Sam stared at the angel, mouth agape, in slight awe, "Oh, my God—er, uh, I didn't mean to—sorry." the youngest stumbled nervously over his words before swallowing and holding out a hand to Castiel, "Really I-I've heard a lot about you."

Melody and Dean both turned away going for the door to the room. The oldest shut the door while his sister let out a sharp breath and whispered, "Remind me again why we never gave this guy our cell number?"

Dean chuckled and glanced down at her outfit. It was fairly normal. Dark skinny jeans, tall brown boots, her bracelet and necklace but… "Dude, you getting in the spirit of Halloween?" He pointed at her pumpkin orange, shirt and then plucked at her black button up jacket.

"What?" Melody squinted at him then glanced down at her outfit. She groaned, "I forgot about that…black and orange equals Halloween this time of year. But I can't help it if orange is my favorite color—ass." She punched him in the arm and both returned to stand next to their brother.

"Sam Winchester," Castiel said shaking the hunter's hand, "the boy with the demon blood. Glad to hear you've ceased your extracurricular activities." Melody squinted at the angel, noticing how awkward and…sort of out of place that comment had been. Then again, angels didn't seem all that versed in the art of conversing with humans.

"Let's keep it that way." Tall, dark and creepy mumbled from the window.

"Yeah, okay Chuckles." Dean clipped sarcastically at him then looked at Castiel, "Who's your friend?"

Cas ignored the question, "This raising of Samhain—have you stopped it?"

"What? Why?" Melody asked him, seeking clarification but again Castiel ignored the question. He only glanced at her before looking at the oldest,

"Dean, have you located the witch?"

"Yes, we've located the witch." Dean clipped his answer back at him.

"And is the witch dead?"

Sam shook his head, "No but—"

"We know who it is." Dean quickly supplied the answer for his brother who was fumbling for the right words.

"Apparently," Castiel said walking past Dean, "the witch knows who you are too." He moved to the bedside table and picked up a tiny hex bag, "This was inside the wall of your room."

Melody froze. There was no way a freaking witch could have gotten past her. Then again, she had spent a good hour and a half in the bathroom. Making sure she looked nice…for…someone not standing in the very same room as her at the moment. Nope. She just wanted to look nice today. For herself. Not for him.

"If we hadn't found it," Castiel continued not noticing or ignoring Melody's tense gaze as she all but avoided eye contact with him, "surely one or all three of you would be dead. Do you know where the witch is now?"

Melody had to shrug, she honestly didn't know. The only information she knew was what Sam had told her over the phone. That they had connected to dots and found out that a certain cheerleader, who had been at the crime scene the night before was also the Wallace's babysitter, Tracy Davis. Melody looked to her brothers for help but Sam simply shrugged like her and Dean answered for them,

"We're working on it."

"That's unfortunate." Castiel said back, almost in a dead tone. Like he was almost bored. But…he wasn't. Melody stared at him; saw the slight clenching of the jaw, the tension in his shoulders. There was something on his mind, something heavy was weighing on his shoulders.

"What do you care?" Dean asked, a bit heated and annoyed. This angel and his cryptic, half answers were really starting to rub him the wrong way.

Castiel glanced at his companion and then took in a deep breath before answering, "The raising of Samhain is one of the sixty-six seals."

Melody felt the cold chill of realization crawl across her skin. Oh no…

"So this is about your buddy Lucifer." Dean grumbled, not seeing his sister shoot him a warning look. This was not the time for jokes or even to be a smart ass...besides Castiel's friend made her feel unwelcome. And this was their own damn room.

"Lucifer is no friend of ours." Tall, dark and creepy's deep, unwavering voice clipped at him. Dean regarded the man's back,

"It was just an expression."

Castiel seemed to ignore the little exchange between Dean and his companion. "Lucifer cannot rise. The breaking of the seal must be prevented at all costs."

"Okay, great." Dean answered, "Well, now that you're here why don't you tell us where the witch is? We'll gank her, and everybody goes home."

"We are not omniscient." Castiel sighed, "This witch is very powerful. She's cloaked, even to our methods."

Sam tried to play peacemaker, "Okay, well, we already know who she is. So if we work together—"

"Enough of this." Again the dark figure spoke. Melody had had enough of the mysterious man and rolled her eyes before asking with more than enough heat,

"Who are you, and why should we care?"

He turned to face them, revealing a strong, rounded face and deep, unwavering eyes. Melody felt an ounce of trepidation when he finally looked at her, and regretted letting her temper get the better of her. Castiel answered her question, "This is Uriel. He's what you might call…a specialist."

Uriel moved a few steps closer to the Winchesters and Castiel. He was tall, maybe an inch or two taller than Sam already was. And he even walked with a sort of power in his steps, hulking and stalking towards them.

"Specialist?" Melody felt her brow crease, "What kind of specialist?" Uriel's silence was all the answer she needed. He didn't exactly tell her word for word what he did but…she got the idea. And she did not like it. She looked to the trench coat wearing angel, feeling more comfortable with questioning him instead of his companion, "Cas…what are you gonna do?"

He watched her closely. Castiel felt his eyes lingering on her face as he watched the muscles in her jaw and cheeks work. He felt his vessel grow warm again and turned away from her briefly, taking in a short breath, "You—all of you, you need to leave this town immediately."

"Why?" Melody asked slightly apprehensive of what his answer might be.

"Because we're about to destroy it."

Melody felt her jaw go slack at Castiel's deadpan answer. "You're…_what?_"

Dean, although just as shocked as his sister, got a bit more heated and verbal with his anger. "So this is your whole plan? You're gonna smite the whole friggin town?"

"We're out of time." Castiel would not or could not look at the Winchesters directly, "This witch has to die. The seal must be saved."

Sam tried to implore with the angels, "There are a thousand people here."

"One thousand, two-hundred and fourteen." Uriel clipped at him.

"And you're willing to just kill them all?" Melody threw out her arms, exasperated and growing more and more impatient with the angels. They'd only been speaking for a short time but, this conversation and Melody's past interactions with Castiel did not bode well for either party. And she hated that she felt that way. Because she remembered feeling his presence not a few years ago and seeing him in her dreams. He'd been like a friend to her. She wanted to know what had changed in him.

She decided to put aside all of her inner thoughts. Now was not the time to dwell on what she wished for. Now…they had to deal with a couple of angels who were about to destroy an entire town full of innocent people.

Uriel regarded her coldly, "This isn't the first time I've…purified a city."

"Look, I understand this is regrettable." Castiel seemed to try to play the peacemaker as well. Although, the Winchesters had already made up their minds about the angels' plans.

"Regrettable?" Melody grumbled crossing her arms over her chest and giving Castiel her best bitch face.

"We have to hold the line." Castiel tried to defend himself, but Melody just rolled her eyes at him. He watched her, feeling what he thought was…guilt when she wouldn't look at him again. Instead, Melody just chewed her lip and stared at the floor while Castiel continued trying to defend himself, "Too many seals have broken already."

Dean scoffed, "So you screwed the pooch on some seals, and now this town has to pay the price?"

Castiel squinted up at him, "It's the live of one-thousand against the lives of six billion. There's a bigger picture here."

"Right…" Dean fought an eye roll of his own, "cause uh, you're bigger-picture kind of guys."

"Lucifer cannot rise." Castiel proclaimed, moving closer to Dean. He saw Melody tense up out of the corner of his eye. Her arms lowered to her sides, hands tightening into fists. She may not know how to kill him, but if the rumors about her were true, then Castiel knew that she could certainly hurt him. And pretty well if she wanted.

He ignored her and kept a straight face as he continued, "He does, and hell rises with him. Is that something that you're willing to risk?"

"We'll stop this witch before she summons anyone." Sam said quickly, trying again to find a compromise, "Your seal won't be broken, and no one has to die."

"We're wasting time with these mud monkeys." Uriel said with an air of disgust.

Melody let her temper get the better of her, "Well you're one to talk stiff."

Uriel glanced at her, "I shouldn't be hearing any flak from you _abomination_."

"What the hell did you just call me?" Melody's temper was all but out of control and her eyes flashed silver as she tried to move closer to Uriel, putting on her best threatening gaze. She felt a pair of strong hands reach out and grab her shoulders, halting her in place. Melody fought against the person holding her back, only to feel two more sets of hands on her arms. She glanced up and froze. Castiel was the one who had been holding her shoulders.

Melody shook herself, feeling both Sam and Dean grip her arms and pull her towards them. Neither wanted to start a fight with these guys. She calmed down and gave Castiel a look that said "I'm fine". She could have sworn she felt his hands linger a bit too long on her shoulders. And as he slowly released her, his thumb dragged just enough over her collar bone so that she felt his calloused thumb on her skin. Melody fought back the shivers that ran down her spine at the thought of him touching her skin like that. It was not right, and it would never happen. Besides, she hated Castiel…

"I'm sorry…" Castiel announced, stepping back from Melody, "but we have our orders."

Sam had let go of his sister and threw out his arms, "No, you can't do this. You—you're angels. I mean aren't you supposed to—you're supposed to show mercy."

"Says who?" Uriel grinned. Melody could have sworn she saw satisfaction in his eyes. Like he was glad to be smiting an entire town of people.

Castiel on the other hand, had gone quiet and was looking down and away from everyone in the room. "We have no choice." He said quickly.

Melody shook her head, "There's always a choice."

Dean agreed with her, "Yeah I mean, come on. What, you've never—never questioned a crap order, huh? What are you both, just a couple of hammers?"

"Look, even if you can't understand it," Castiel said through gritted teeth, still not looking up at the Winchesters, "have faith. The plan is just."

"How can you even say that?" Sam questioned, stunned at hearing what the angels were saying.

"Because it comes from heaven. That makes it just." Castiel turned to face them finally, unwavering in his response.

Melody scoffed, "So if heaven says the sky is green that makes it true?" Castiel didn't answer her, only glanced her way. He seemed to not want to look her in the eye at all.

"It must be nice," Dean grumbled getting Castiel's attention, "to be so sure of yourselves."

"Tell me something," Castiel gestured to both Dean and his sister, "when your father gave you an order, didn't you obey?"

Melody just felt her jaw clench shut. Okay, yes that was right. But dad never told her to kill off an entire town. Dad would have fought to the very end to save at least one person from the town just so he could take out the damn witch.

"Sorry boys," Dean half grinned, "it looks like the plans have changed." Castiel simply stared up at Dean. Melody thought she saw surprise in his features.

"You think you can stop us?" Uriel challenged from his spot. Melody felt an uncharacteristic growl crawl up her throat. This angel was even more annoying than Castiel. Dean seemed to notice his sister's growing temper and gently placed a hand on her shoulder holding her back.

"No," he said after getting a reluctant look of understanding from Melody. He moved her behind him and looked straight into the eyes of Uriel, "But if you're gonna smite this whole town…then you're gonna have to smite us with it because we are not leaving."

Dean stepped up to Uriel closing the distance between himself and the tall angel, "You went to the trouble of busting me out of hell. I figure I'm worth something to the man upstairs. You want to waste me? Go ahead. See how he digs that."

"I will drag you out of here myself." Uriel sneered at the hunter.

"Yeah, but you'll have to kill me." Dean argued, "Then we're back to the same problem. I mean, come on. You're gonna wipe out a whole town for one little witch?" Dean frowned and shrugged, "Sounds to me like you're compensating for something."

Uriel simply watched Dean, giving him a flat, unimpressed expression. Dean turned away from him, "We can do this." He stopped in front of Castiel, "We will find that witch. We will stop the summoning."

"Castiel," Uriel sounded like _he_ was letting his temper get the better of him now, and he raised his hand to point accusingly at Dean, "I will not let these—"

"Enough." Castiel commanded Uriel, eyes never leaving Dean. The other angel obeyed and lowered his arm, going quiet. Castiel flicked his eyes over at Melody and Sam, and then looked back at the oldest, "I suggest you move quickly."

* * *

Melody followed her brothers out of the motel room, "Okay…am I the only one who was creeped out back there?" Sam glanced back at her, and opened his mouth to answer but froze when he saw the Impala. He heard Melody gasp when she saw the number of broken eggs on the hood of the car. The black paint nearly covered with white and yellow egg yolks, tiny pieces of the shells scattered across the hood. "What the hell happened?" she asked moving over to the passenger side of the car to get a closer look.

Dean felt his jaw clench, and walked to his side of the car, hands planted firmly on his hips. There was even an egg on the driver side door and window…

"Astronaut!" Dean yelled at the top of his lungs, looking around for the pudgy kid who he hadn't given any candy to. Oh…if only he could find that little punk _now_.

Melody squinted across the car at him, "Astronaut? Dean what the—"

"Mel," Sam stopped her from going any further, shaking his head and getting into the car. She stared at her oldest brother a bit longer, shook her head and slowly got into the back seat. After a few seconds, Dean got into the car, slamming the door a bit harder than necessary.

Before she could say anything Dean just held up a hand, "Mels don't." Melody held back a snicker and leaned over the front seat getting an eye roll from her older brother. They both seemed to notice how quiet Sam was and glanced over at him. "What?" Dean asked, prying for the answer to what was bothering the youngest.

Sam idly played with the little hex bag in his hands, "Nothing." After a short pause he chuckled—though it was void of any humor, "I thought they'd be different."

"Who?" Melody asked then saw his eyes lingering on their motel room door, "The angels?"

"Yeah." Sam nodded and Dean just sighed,

"Well, we tried to tell you."

"I just…" Sam swallowed and stared down at the bag, "I mean, I thought they'd be righteous."

Dean shrugged, "Well they _are_ righteous. I mean, that's kind of the problem."

"Righteous assholes is more like it." Melody grumbled, "There's nothing more dangerous than some a-hole who thinks he's on a holy mission." She thought back to the man Gordon hired to kill Sam, hell even Gordon was a bit crazy in that way. Although he never thought he was ordered to kill Sam by God himself, Gordy did feel like he was doing the right thing by trying to off her little brother.

Sam acknowledged her, giving her a nod of understanding. He got quiet again, stared at the little hex bag and took in a short breath, "But I mean, this is God and heaven? This is what I've been praying to?"

Melody had to admit that she felt the same way. She'd never been quite as…enthusiastic about the whole God thing like Sam. But she did have her own amount of faith, and she would occasionally (and usually in her most desperate times) call out to him or whoever was up there for help. So yes, it did surprise and sort of disappoint her at these two angels she'd been dealing with. The cryptic answers guy and the creepy son of a bitch.

Dean sighed, "Look man, I know you're into the whole God thing and Jesus on a tortilla and stuff like that. But just because there's a couple of bad apples doesn't mean the whole barrel is rotten. I mean, for all we know, god hates these jerks." Melody nodded her head, letting her older brother know that she understood what he was trying to say. Sam however, had gone quiet again and was keeping his eyes downcast. "Don't give up on this stuff. That's all I'm saying." Dean continued trying to help his brother feel better, "I mean Babe Ruth was a dick, but baseball's still a beautiful game."

Melody snorted, "Yeah, if you're drunk."

"Hey, baseball is the great American past-time. Don't bad mouth a great sport Mels." Dean pointed a warning finger at his sister. And she knew it was totally harmless, so she just chuckled and knocked his hand away. Sam couldn't help it. He smiled warmly at his older siblings. Yeah, Dean always knew how to cheer him up. And Melody was always a comforting presence in the midst of it.

Sam looked back at the hex bag and pulled it open. He picked at the items and plucked the tiny bone from the pile. He held it up in the light, twisting it between his fingers. Dean sighed, getting back down to business, "Well are you gonna figure out a way to find this witch or are you just gonna sit there fingering your bone?"

"Ew—Dean." Melody groaned smacking him in the arm. He just laughed at her, knowing he'd get a reaction out of his sister even before he had made the comment. Dean reached down and turned on the engine, his baby coming to life with a low purr.

"You know how much heat it would take to char a bone like this?" Sam asked staring down at the tiny bone, having ignored his brother's bad joke.

Dean glanced at the bone and shrugged, "No."

"A lot." Sam answered, "I mean, more than a fire or some kitchen oven." Dean felt his brown crease, saw his sister doing the same and looked over at his brother,

"Okay Betty Crocker, what does that mean?"

"It means we make a stop."

* * *

Dean led the way down the steps to the basement; they could hear a man's voice echoing up at them as he chanted in Latin. They all had their guns raised as the came around the corner. Tracy, the cheerleader was tied up to the ceiling of the basement and gagged. The man, her teacher Don Harding was the one who had been chanting and had a knife to the girl's chest. He raised his arm, and Melody did not hesitate, she whipped around and fired her gun, pulling the trigger three times. She hit Harding square in the chest and he went down in a heap.

Sam returned his gun to the pocket inside his jacket and bent down the check the pulse of Harding. Melody returned her gun to the holster on her right thigh. Since tonight was a bit serious, she decided it was time to get a bit more tactical with her gun. Instead of stuffing it into her jeans, she thought it best to keep it as close to her hand as possible.

She stood behind Sam and watched Dean untie the girl from the ceiling. Tracy pulled off the gag, "Thank you he was gonna kill me. Ugh that sick son of a bitch. I mean, did you see what he was doing? Did you hear him…how sloppy his incantation was? My brother always was a little dim."

The Winchesters all realized what she was talking about and started pulling out their guns, fumbling with their weapons. Tracy was faster and thrust out her hands shouting in Latin and sending the siblings flying backwards. Melody heard her brothers groan in pain and fought back her own moans of agony.

She heard Tracy's voice, "He was gonna make me the final sacrifice. His idea. But now, that honor goes to him. Our master has returned. This spellwork's a two-man job, you understand? So for six-hundred years I had to deal with that pompous son of a bitch. Planning, preparing—unbearable. The whole time I wanted to rip his face off. And," she chuckled, bending down and taking a cup of his blood, "you get him with a gun. Oh I love that."

Tracy, ignoring the groans and writhing forms of the Winchesters stood up and continued her monologue, "You know, back in the day, this was the one night you kept your children inside. Well, tonight you'll all see what Halloween really is." Melody squinted up at the witch from her spot on the ground, feeling her muscles ache and protest as she moved.

Melody laid her head back down, "I fucking _hate_ witches…" Luckily, Tracy hadn't heard her and began to chant in Latin. As she continued her spell, Sam started crawling towards Don Harding's body. There was a small pool of blood near the body and he placed his hand in it, getting it soaking with the man's blood before smearing the red substance all over his face.

"What…are you doing?" Dean asked his brother, more confused than disgusted.

"Just follow my lead." Sam said dipping his hand in the blood again before smearing it all over Dean's face. Sam repeated his movements and laid back near his sister, rubbing blood over her forehead and cheeks. "Trust me…" Sam mumbled, "play dead."

Melody closed her eyes, felt Sam pull her close to him and rested her head on his shoulder. All they could do now was wait. She heard Tracy's voice and as the girl came to a halt in her chanting, the floor shook and rumbled. Melody could hear a loud cracking sound, followed by a rush of cold, stale air. And then the room filled with the smell of…sugar. But it wasn't the sweet, warm smell. It was burned sugar, charred and bitter and it filled the air like a putrid stink.

There was a low moan and then…silence. Finally she heard Tracy sigh say something about her love and then a deep voice respond to her. Melody peeked her eyes open just long enough to see Don Harding standing up from his spot. But…this was no long Don Harding. Now it was Samhain. Melody felt her heartbeat increase when she thought about dealing with such and ancient and powerful demon like him, and moved a bit closer to her little brother.

Tracy and Samhain spoke for a moment longer, and then Melody heard the distinct sound of a neck breaking. Samhain muttered the word "whore" before his footsteps could be heard walking past the Winchesters. As his shadow moved past them, and the basement door opened and closed, Melody slowly opened up her eyes and saw Dean had done the same.

Dean leaned up from his spot on the floor, saw Melody just lie back and grit her teeth against the pain in her spine and stared at his little brother before whispering harshly, "What the hell was that?"

"Halloween lore." Sam mumbled, "People used to wear masks to hide from him, so I gave it a shot."

"Wait…" Melody leaned up from the floor, "You…_gave it a shot_?" Sam could only shrug; he knew it had been a completely risky plan. But it was the best he had had at the moment. Melody groaned, "Sammy…I don't know if I should hug you or punch you."

* * *

Melody could hear panicked screams coming up to them as she and her brothers sprinted down the steps of the crypt. They had figured out pretty quickly that Samhain would go to a cemetery. And…they had practically begged Sam to not use any of his psychic powers if the angels couldn't help them take out the demon. Melody hopped her brother would keep his word…she had made him say the words "I promise" to her in the car while they drove to the cemetery. When they came to the end of the steps, they saw the main room of the crypt filled with a small party of costumed teenagers, obviously having been locked inside by the very demon they were after.

"Help them." Sam ordered turning to leave. Dean caught his arm,

"Dude, you're not going off alone."

"Do it." Sam ordered again this time with ten times more conviction and turned to leave before either of his siblings could say anything else. Dean sighed and raised his gun intending on shooting off the lock.

"Wait!" Melody called holding out her hands and pushing his gun down. Dean opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he saw her eyes go into those silver, glowing orbs. Melody turned to the lock, grabbed it with her hands and grunted as she twisted the metal of the lock. It groaned in protest but she just fought against it and yanked down in one, hard motion. The lock broke in her hands, falling to the ground in pieces and she thrust open the door as the horde of high school kids in costumes started rushing past her and her brother. As they filed out and up the steps, Dean and Melody came into the room they had all just been standing in. It was a crypt yes, filled to the brim with coffins stuffed into the walls.

The stones covering up the coffins were rattling and rumbling violently. Melody pulled out her pistol and her large, iron hunting knife, holding both in her hands tightly. A few of the stone doors shattered and fell to the floor and the corpses followed suit.

"Right." Melody raised her right hand, pulling back the hammer of her pistol and aiming, "Zombies."

The corpse slowly rose to its feet and stared blankly at her and her brother. Dean set down his weapon bag, glanced at his sister and saw her eyes were still glowing silver. He elected to ignore that for the time being. For now, he had more pressing concerns. Dean reached into his bag and pulled out a large, silver baton. He grimaced at the corpse standing in front of him,

"Bring it on stinky."

* * *

_Ok did anyone else watch the new episode of breaking bad tonight? I swear if they kill Jesse...there will be riots, violent, loud, messy riots. On a happier note, there will be a picture of Melody's "Halloween" outfit on my tumblr page. Check it out if you'd like :) OH! And the song Melody is singing is called "Hallelujah" and I personally prefer the Rufus Wainwright version. There is a link on my profile page to the spotify playlist for this story and the song is on there if you'd like to check that out as well. _

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	33. Riddles and Circles

**OKAY...I've been waiting like weeks and weeks to finally post this chapter just because of the big conversation right near the end. Seriously, I probably look like a lunatic pacing around my room, speaking to the walls and trying to make it all perfect lol Maybe acting class is actually rubbing off and I'm starting to really become a *clears throat* thespian...huh? Yeah? No...? Okay yeah...**

**OH! And if you're super smart and think you've figured out who Melody is talking to at the end of the chapter...post it in the review section. I want to know if my clever writing has fooled you all or not...or if it really is that obvious. I kinda hope it is and I kinda hope is isn't. Vicious circle, I know.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...  
**

* * *

"Dean to your left!" Melody cried whipping around and pulling the trigger of her pistol. It fired off loud and beautifully, hitting her target square between the eyes. The corpse fell to the ground but Melody couldn't admire her handiwork for too long. She felt a snarl rise up and out of her throat, turned and thrust her left hand through the air, knife sinking into her targets temple.

"Mels!" She barely had time to react let alone think before she felt cold, clammy arms grip her waist and pull her backwards. Melody fought hard against the hold. She squirmed and struggled before reaching back and stabbing at whatever her knife could find. The iron blade found purchase and sunk into the soft flesh of the zombie's arm, it's black, thick and sickening blood poured out over her hand as the corpse fell back. Melody turned, raised her gun and fired. The zombie fell to the ground in a dead heap in front of her.

Melody looked back and saw Dean fighting off two zombies of his own. He ducked, weaved past the corpses flailing arms and shot out his baton sinking it deep into the chest of one of his attackers. The zombie fell to the ground, impaled to the floor. "Dean!" Melody yelled at her brother as he fought to take down the next zombie, "I told you to destroy the brain!"

She moved over to the impaled zombie and bent down, stabbing her knife straight into its head. The body went limp almost immediately. She heard her brother grunt, shout and then, finally the sound of flesh being ripped. Much like before, Dean stabbed the zombie through the chest with a second silver baton and fell to the ground with the corpse. "Hey." He panted, a bit angry at her for chastising him when they were in the middle of a fight of all things, "Shut up."

Melody just rolled her eyes at him, stood up and shot the zombie square in the eye, the body ceasing all movement. Dean stared up at his sister, her eyes hadn't changed back to normal once during their little zombie battle. As much as Dean could see the benefit in her abilities, how everything about his sister seemed heightened, her strength, her senses—hell even her damn face looked "heightened" in a way. Everything about Melody's features seemed sharper when she had her powers activated now. But, they still freaked him out a bit. He had watched his baby sister rip off a metal lock like it was made of tissue paper—well she had struggled a bit but still. And she'd always been a hell of a shot and a kick-ass fighter, but damn…when did she learn to do that kind of stuff?

He glanced up at her, only to see her fists tighten as she prepared for the next attacker. Dean heard the shoes clicking towards him, looked over, saw a pair of gray, wobbly ankles in a pair of worn shoes and reacted quickly. He reached for his weapon bag, whipped out his last silver baton and thrust the end of it towards the zombie's chest. Only…by the time his weapon should have been piercing flesh…the flesh was gone.

Both Winchesters froze, not seeing where the corpse had disappeared to. And before Melody could remember that they were going to be fighting ghosts too…she whipped around with her brother only to find themselves flying across the room to land against the far wall. Melody and Dean grunted when their backs impacted with the stone walls, and they slid down to the ground, holding their sides and fighting against the pain. Melody felt Dean's legs sprawling over hers and didn't even bother moving them. She didn't realize using her powers this much would make her so tired.

She heard Dean pant, saw him glance at her and grip her shoulder for support as he started to pull himself up. "Zombie-ghost orgy huh?" Dean sucked in a breath, "Well, that's it. We're torching everybody."

He stood up, turned and helped Melody up while patting her down to check for any serious injuries. Melody brushed him off, returning her pistol to her holster but keeping her knife out. She gripped the blade in her right hand tightly, took in a deep breath to calm her spinning head and glanced around the room. "Get started on the bodies. I'll watch your back."

On a normal day, Dean would have hesitated and told her to go suck eggs. He should be the one keeping an eye out. He is the one who protects his younger siblings. But now was not the time to get into it with his sister. He reached into his bag, pulled out a can of salt and lighter fluid and quickly got to work. Strangely, all the activity came to a grinding halt. And Dean finished up his work in record time. As he set the corpses alight, he felt Melody reach around him and stuff her knife into the ammo bag. Dean glanced down at her and let out a small breath of relief. Staring up at him, were Melody's bright hazel eyes.

"Alright." He gripped her shoulder, noticing how wobbly she looked, "Let's go help Sam and get the hell out of here."

Melody just nodded and pulled out her pistol as they went around the corner. It wasn't that long of a jog, and in less than a minute they turned down a long hallway. At the very end of the hallway, they could see Sam facing them and the demon's back to them. Sam had his hand raised, palm facing outward and was grimacing in pain, struggling against some kind of force as he started to exorcise Samhain.

"Dean…" Melody whispered holstering her weapon and feeling a cold chill run down her spine as she watched Sam work. It was…incredibly disturbing watching her little brother exorcise the demon. She reached out and took a hold of Dean's elbow, gripping tightly and sinking in closer to him.

Sam was visibly struggling to keep things together. Shaking, trembling and grunting in pain. He glanced up past Samhain's shoulders, saw his brother and sister standing at the end of the hall watching him with wide eyes but he couldn't stop now. This was the only way, the knife was god knows where, and Samhain was just too damn strong to take him out the conventional way. Sam returned his attention to the demon in front of him, black smoke trickling out of the bullet holes in his chest as he fought to take another step. Sam grunted, gripped his head as a thousand different things stabbed and pounded against his skull.

The demon's mouth finally opened, and he started chocking and gagging up the black smoke. Sam felt blood trickle out of his nose—but he had to keep going. He grimaced, closed his eyes and fought against every instinct to stop. And just when Sam thought it would never end, when he thought he might kill himself from the pain and agony he was putting on himself…the last of Samhain poured out of Don Harding's body and then fell limp to the ground.

* * *

The next day all three Winchesters had gone off in their own worlds. Dean drove off, saying something about grabbing a few things for the road leaving Sam and Melody in the motel room. Melody's things were already packed and in the Impala. She didn't have her journal or her music to pass the time and didn't really feel like waiting around for Dean. So she decided to go on a walk. Behind the motel was a thick, wooded area with tall trees and green brush. It was ideal for Melody. She didn't know what she was doing going back there, all she knew was that she wanted to be alone.

As she walked through the woods, picking at her shirt idly and watching the ground as it crunched under her boots. After last night's fights, she'd slept like a rock. And she hadn't gotten a full night's sleep like that in over a year. She thought back to the battle with the zombies. She'd used her powers longer than ever before and was surprised at how easy it was at first. Like it was instinct to just react and help those kids. Break the lock like it was nothing; fight off the zombies like she'd been doing it her whole life. Fighting, yes she'd been fighting her entire life that was for sure. But she'd never had to fight a friggin zombie before. And she only knew to "destroy the brain" from watching hundreds of cheap horror films.

Then she thought about Sam and having had to watch him exorcise Samhain. Honestly it freaked her out more that her little brother could do that than her own powers did. It just didn't sit right with her. The fact that her baby brother could exorcise demons with his mind, shot up warning flags for her. And the fact that freaking angels warned him not to do it again. That means that heaven doesn't want him doing it…but why?

Melody moved past a few more trees, feeling the warm sun stream down at her through the leaves. It was autumn now. Her favorite time of year if she had to pick one. Yes, she loved the beach and she loved the ocean and the sands. But there was just something about autumn that made her feel welcome. Maybe it was because she was born in the fall months.

She stopped having come to a small clearing. There was a tiny creak, maybe only a few feet wide cutting through the brush. Melody found a fallen log and sat down on it, staring at the churning waters and letting her mind wander.

"You don't have to sneak up on me like that." She mumbled, feeling the air shift next to her, hearing wings flap into existence. She glanced over and saw Castiel sitting just a few feet away from her on the same log. He was sitting up, back pin straight and staring across the creak at the trees. Melody leaned back, hands resting on the log and regarded him coolly.

"I do not mean to startle you." He said, eyes moving from the trees to her face, "I only wished to speak with you."

Melody scoffed, "What now? You gonna slap my wrist for telling you and your creepy friend to…well…get lost basically? Or did you just want to tell me how much you missed me?" she playfully batted her eyelashes at him, not getting any kind of response whatsoever out of the angel.

"I was not going to be negative." Castiel tilted his head to the side, eyes crimping slightly. Melody nodded in understanding, not wanting to explain sarcasm to him at the moment and instead looked away and across the trees. She chewed her lip and felt an all too familiar comfortable silence fall over them.

After a long moment, Melody glanced over to make sure he was still there. And he was, eyes watching the creak, hair flickering through the wind. She took in a deep breath and sighed, "What are you like?"

Castiel looked sidelong at her, "I do not understand the question."

"I mean, you being an angel…what is that like? I mean, you're a soldier _obviously_ but…what exactly do angels do? Do you all…sing? Play music? Hell, bake cakes?" Melody chuckled nervously, leaned her elbows on her knees and rung her fingers together, "Do…do you watch us?" Her voice lowered in volume, and she almost whispered her last question, "Do you watch me?"

Melody wasn't quite sure what to expect. She didn't know why she was asking him these questions. All she knew was—and this was most likely just her trying to cover up for the real reason—that she wanted to find an angel's weakness. But truthfully, she wanted to know more about Castiel. She wanted to learn everything she could about him before he up and disappeared from her life again.

Castiel didn't answer for a long while. He just watched the trees and the sky and the creak before finally settling his eyes on the girl sitting next to him. She glanced away from him, caught staring when she hadn't realized that she was, and watched the ground closely. Maybe she'd gone too far. Maybe he was offended by her questions and her stupid joke. It was stupid…who the hell would think angels sit up in heaven and bake cakes of all things? Stupid, stupid, stu—

"It's hard to explain." Castiel's deep, raspy voice startled her and Melody looked up to see him watching the creak again. "There are many angels, and we all have different tasks. Not all of us are soldiers, but we are all capable of being such. We do not…sing or play music or…bake cakes. There would be no purpose in doing such a thing."

Melody saw he was dead serious about the not baking cakes thing and had to bit her cheek to hold back the grin threatening to crawl across her face. Castiel, unaware of Melody, continued, "We—I have always been quite fond of you. I watch you, listen to every word you say…and it humbles me."

"Wait…me or…humans?" Melody asked carefully, slowly sitting back up straight. Castiel watched her, eyes crimping again as he answered,

"Both."

She honestly wasn't expecting _that_. Melody thought about what he had told her. That he was fond of humans and her. That he liked to watch humans and her and listen to every word she said. But then a sinking feeling came over her. Melody remembered exactly what she was. Nephilim. She scoffed and looked away from him, "I'm not human Cas. I don't even know who the hell I am anymore. I'm not Melody Winchester. I'm not John Winchester's daughter. I'm some…angel's kid—a God dammed Nephilim or creation or whatever."

Castiel watched her vent. She threw her hands out, shook them through the air, swatted at things that weren't there. When she stopped and wouldn't look at him again, Castiel took his chance to speak. "You are not a Nephilim."

"Really?" Melody asked and turned to face him. She blinked and when her eyes opened again, they were bright, silver and glowing. "Does this look human to you? How about the fact that I can smell your scent, huh? Everything has a distinguishing smell okay? Everything! Demons smell like death, but some of the bigger ones smell even worse. Archangels smell like every damn thing on the planet. My brothers have separate scents, my dad had one and even you have one!" she pointed an accusing finger at him. Her eyes returned to normal and she stood up, started pacing, "You get that Cas? My whole life, everything I've ever fucking known is a lie!"

"You are not a Nephilim." Castiel repeated with a bit more conviction. Melody just rolled her eyes,

"What? You can sense it or something?"

"Yes." Castiel announced, standing up from the log. His abrupt movement silenced her for the moment, but Melody was still on edge as he continued, "It isn't easy. But if I focus, I can sense the gene in you."

Melody let out a sharp breath, "And? What are you getting on the radar—don't tell me it's not a radar. Just…tell me what you can."

Castiel stared at her, eyes flicking across her features as he tried to search for something familiar. He'd only ever heard rumors about the Nephilim. They hadn't been seen in thousands of years so he wasn't that practiced in feeling them out. But…he remembered hearing that they were part angel, so he should be able to feel something familiar in her. Castiel searched and searched and found…nothing. Not even a hint of angel DNA in her at all.

"Well?" Melody crossed her arms, growing impatient and anxious. Castiel slowly shook his head,

"I sense nothing. You are no Nephilim."

She gripped her head, "That can't be true. You're lying. He said he was my father—angels don't lie Cas…Cas?" Melody looked around her, finding the forest empty except for herself. "Castiel?" Melody called out for him. But he didn't answer. She cursed and started pacing. What…the…hell!

"Angels do lie child."

Melody turned around so fast she made her head spin for a second. When she wasn't seeing double anymore she saw a new figure standing just a few feet away from her. He had a kind face, deep gray eyes and salt and pepper hair. The man in front of her was tall…at least six foot five if she could guess. He had broad shoulders, and looked built despite his age. But his presence was warm and inviting and his voice calmed her down almost instantaneously.

"Who…who are you? Where did Castiel go?" Melody asked him, going into defense mode. He regarded her with a kind smile, and took a careful step towards her.

"Oh…I've gone by many names over the years. Many people have called me so many different things, some of those names have been so complex I dare not to try and speak them myself." He smiled at her, "But…I suppose for now you can call me…Bill."

Melody took a step back, "B…Bill? From the diner? You're…you're that Bill?" she connected the dots then. How could she forget this guy's face? It was a face she'd always looked forward to seeing every day she went into work.

"Yep, that's me. Good ole Bill." He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, "Just thought you'd need some help. You seemed a bit…flustered earlier."

"Flustered?" Melody huffed, "You want flustered? I'll give you freaking flustered buddy. How about the fact that Cas was just there," she pointed to the log, "and now he's gone and you are there." She pointed at him taking another half-step backwards.

Bill shrugged, "I am sorry about sending him away. But, I think it would be best for you to hear the truth—well part of the truth from me."

"Why from you? I don't even know you!" she thought back to their conversations and then remembered, "Hey…hey wait what about that weird note you left me? You knew my name, knew all about my family. Don't tell me you're another angel…I've had enough of those for one day."

He chuckled, "No angel here, I promise you that. Do you remember what else I said to you in the note? That even the most divine creatures lie. And that is the truth Melody Winchester. Angels? They do lie."

"So…so you're saying Cas lied to me about the whole not sensing that I'm a Nephilim?"

"No. No he's one of the good ones." Bill took in a slow breath and watched the ground, "The other one though. The other one who invaded your dreams? He…he's become lost. Well, most of the others upstairs have become lost but…him in particular? He's trying to hold on but…he is lost. When he found the truth—the whole truth—about you, he became jealous. Envious almost. He told you his lie so that you would lose faith."

Melody didn't have to think about what Bill was referring to. He was talking about Michael. About the terrible nightmare she'd had where he'd told her that he was her father, and then he'd chased her down. It was because of him that she'd been avoiding sleep for so long. What she didn't understand…was what the hell Bill was talking about.

"Faith?" Melody felt her brow crease, "What do you mean by that?"

Bill sighed, "He didn't…he wanted you to have doubts. He wanted to plague your mind so that when the truth was told to you," Bill shrugged, "you wouldn't even believe it. No one else knows the truth except him, me and apparently Lilith. I don't know how she found out but…she found out. But you have been planned for so long—you and your brothers. It wouldn't surprise me if she did know."

"Know what?" Melody threw out her arms, exacerbated, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Sorry." Bill gave her a warm smile, "I ramble. Bad habit." He watched her, smile still present though it had shrunk in size a bit. "You cannot know the full truth yet. It isn't time, and you aren't ready for it. But you can know this. Michael isn't your father; John Winchester _is_ your father. You are human. You were born of humans, you've grown up human. You're just a special kind of human. So rare that…only one of you exists."

"Lilith…" Melody swallowed the lump in her throat, her voice cracking as she began to wheeze, "She said I had a creator. That I can't be harmed—that he'll be…wrathful if I'm hurt. What did she mean by that? Tell me what you know." She implored and begged for an answer. Anything.

But, Bill just sighed, shifted his feet and moved his arms as if to shrug, "That's all you can know. If I told you anything else…it would destroy you. I mean, you've heard half of the truth and you're already falling apart." Melody couldn't stand that he was right and that made her ever more wary of him. "You're not ready for it. And…I won't—I can't—allow you to remember this."

She took a step backwards again, "Wha…what are you saying?"

"You'll try to look for answers. And you can't go looking for them. All you'll find is disappointment. When the time is right—and when you're ready—you'll remember this. But right now you can't. I won't allow it. Besides you need to be focused on other things."

"Other things? Like what?"

"Well…the apocalypse but that's a given. And then…" he trailed off, a tiny, knowing grin on his face, "then there's the other thing. My little watermark…and his precious autumn." Bill smiled directly at her when he said "autumn".

Bill looked around at the trees solemnly, "So many good and bad times ahead. Lots of mistakes and…lots of good choices. Funny how that always works. Good always comes with bad." He sighed and Melody saw his eyes grown weary and mournful, "If only I could fix it all. But I have my rules you know. We don't stop the tree from dying. We let life takes its course. And it's ugly and dirty and horrible and wonderful and beautiful and terrible. But we let it go. There's nothing we can do to stop that…not even I can."

"You're…you're not making any sense. You're talking in riddles, you're speaking in circles you're…you sound crazy." Melody took another step away from him, knowing it was probably hopeless to try and run. The trees and brush were too thick to make a quick getaway.

"Well," Bill grinned, "I haven't been told I'm crazy in a long time. In fact, nobody's ever called me crazy. Guess that makes you the first. The first of many things. The first to call me crazy, the first daughter, the first to fall for a fallen. I'm very proud of you," he smiled fully, "of all of you."

He took a slow, half step towards her, "When you wake up. You won't remember a thing—neither will Castiel. If anything, you'll think that you dreamed about him and he'll think he visited you and you watched the trees and the sky and you felt comfortable with him again. But it won't last. It can't happen too quickly. He needs to say it first."

"Wha…"

* * *

"What!" Melody jerked awake in the back seat, startling both of her brothers. Dean nearly jumped through the roof; Sam even dropped his book by his feet.

"Jesus Mels!" Dean exclaimed looking over his shoulder at her, "What the hell?"

She looked around, saw that she was stretched out in the back seat, and that it was pitch black outside. "Where…where are we?" she panted, rubbed at her eyes and slowly sat up straight.

Sam turned in his seat to watch her closely, "A few hours outside of Washington. You alright? You were out like a light back at the motel. We had to carry you to the car—you wouldn't wake up."

Melody could see his concern, and even saw Dean shoot her a worried look in the rearview mirror. She shook her head, trying to rack her brain, trying to remember exactly what had happened. "I…I remember falling asleep—I think—in the motel room. Uh…I guess I was just exhausted you know. Using my powers can drain me if I use em for too long. I'm fine now though."

She could tell her brothers weren't buying it. But they didn't say anything, only shared a look before returning to their own thoughts. But Melody did remember something. She remembered Castiel…the forest. Oh no…she'd had another dream about him. But…no that wasn't right. No he'd visited her. Right? No—no it was just a dream. Because in the dream she was actually talking with him and comfortable around him. Not afraid he might lash out and attack her for no reason.

No she wasn't comfortable with him. Not now, not _ever_. She tried to tell herself that as the Impala cruised down the dark road. But…she knew—or she hoped she wasn't quite sure—that it wouldn't last. Her mistrust with him would slowly fade. But it couldn't happen too quickly. For some reason…she knew that he needed to say it first.

_But, _Melody rubbed at her aching head, _say what first?_

* * *

_0.o Did anyone else notice those parallels between Melody's thoughts and what Bill was saying? *gasp* the plot thickens! _

_Again, let me know who you all think Bill really is...I'm curious_

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	34. Anna

**It's starting...what's starting you may ask? I don't know, just felt like saying it. Got your attention though right? Anyways I just finished this chapter up, thought about making it a bit longer buuut I figured you all were dying to read the next chap soooo...well you know the rest. Oh! And I found a song that I think would go perfectly with Melody/Castiel romance. It's called Clarity by Zedd...I am obsessed with this song lately and I know it's a bit on the techno/pop side but...it works. Trust me it works. So use that song to kind of help you with some foreshadowing as to Melody and Castiel. It's going to be soooooo good (I hope...heh...)**

**Also a lot of you told me who you all think Bill is. Well, some are right and some are wrong. I won't say exactly who is right or wrong though. I thought I'd be mean and keep you all guessing :) I know, I'm evil.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

_November 6, 2008_

_You know that phrase, "careful what you wish for"? Well the three of us definitely got a lesson in that these past three days. See, first off Dean was all excited about the case because he thought it would involve saving women in showers. I know my big brother will forever be that guy. But I still love him most of the time. There's also times where I just want to punch him so hard…or maybe slap or shoot him. Not kill him though just severely injure. Anyways we headed to Washington and Sam revealed to us that Uriel said that Dean actually remembers everything from Hell. And when Sam and I asked him about it, Dean denied all of it. And I knew he was lying. Maybe it's because Dean is the one who taught me how to bluff in poker games and steal, but I could just see that he wasn't telling us the truth. I didn't say anything though. I knew it would just cause a whole argument and we were in this restaurant so there wasn't really any point. _

_Anyways after a series of rather strange events like, a ghost that helped a woman and repeated sorry and don't tell my parents over and over, uh…Bigfoot turned out to be a giant live teddy bear. Yup you read it right. A life sized __**alive**__ teddy bear…with a drinking problem…and porn addiction…who also suffered from severe depression. We soon found that this wishing well was the source of all these wishes coming true. And…there was a Babylonian coin at the bottom that was meant to grant wishes. But we soon found out that they all go bad thanks to Dean having tested to well. He wished for a sandwich and when we got back to the motel room he barfed up all of it. I remember he tried to grab a beer right after he was done blowing chunks and I slapped his hand and shoved a bottle of water to him instead. Seriously, he's been drinking a lot more lately. Like __**a lot**__ more._

_And after another series of strange events, we eventually found the person who made the first wish and the only guy who could remove the coin from the well thus stopping all of the other wishes from going wrong. Well his crazy girlfriend (who he wished for by the way) nearly killed Sam stopping us, and this crazy little kid who had apparently wished to be stronger than these bullies nearly killed Dean. I was holding the kid by the arms, with my powers activated and everything, and he still managed to throw me off and get a hold of Dean's throat. Luckily, we fixed it. And everyone lived thankfully._

_Afterwards Dean revealed to us that he really does remember all of it. Everything that happened to him down in the pit. And when I and Sam tried to get him to talk about it, he wouldn't. Saying things like "it wouldn't help" and "there's no point, you can't heal what I've seen by talking". And I can understand that but…I just want to help him. That's all I want. And I hate not knowing anyway that I can help him. He's my big brother, he's supposed to be the tough guy, the one who never falters and is always the strong one. But…I watch him when he thinks I'm not and, and I can see it. His scars. They aren't fading. If anything they're all just as fresh as the day he climbed out of the ground. I just want Dean to smile for me again. I mean really smile. And Sam. I want us all to be like we used to. Playing pranks on each other, swapping stories and jibs and hunting ghosts and monsters. No angels, no demons no dead dad. Just us…_

* * *

"Brian, come on man just one more." Sam Winchester begged his new friend leaning heavily on the pool table in front of him. "Just—just give me a chance to win it back."

The large bald biker stood at the end of table, leaned on his pool stick and stuffed a hand into one of jean pockets. "It's your cash." The man shrugged beginning to set up the pool balls.

"Excuse me." Brian looked up to see two people approaching the table. One guy with short, light brown almost dirty blonde hair and large green eyes and the other a girl with gold blonde hair and the brightest hazel eyes Brian had ever seen. She was hot, Brian had to admit it. And her outfit certainly didn't leave a lot for the imagination. Tight, ripped up black jeans, low cut AC/DC shirt, chestnut brown leather bomber jacket and smoky eye shadows that only made the green in her eyes pop even more. By the way she stood next to the other guy—and how similar they looked (practically carbon copies of the other)—Brian could tell already that they were related. And he never messed with a guy's sister, at least not in front of them.

Spiky hair cleared his throat, "Our brother's a little sauced to be making bets."

"Hey," Brian stopped the guy, "he insisted."

Melody glanced at Dean as he continued the hustle, "Yeah but you've already taken what, two bills off him? I'm just saying."

"Yeah come on Brian." Melody smiled her most flirtatious smile at the large biker, "Sam here has done plenty of betting tonight and we don't want him waking up tomorrow with a lot of regrets."

Before Brian could respond, Sam stopped everyone with a sloppy wave of his hands, "Hey shut up—both of you. I'm fine."

"No you're not fine." Dean argued, "You're drunk!"

Sam ignored his brother, "Let's make it five-hundred."

Melody's eyes nearly popped out of her skull, "Five-hundred?! Sam come on, you're done—stop."

Brian just grinned, "Sure." He nodded and watched in slow growing satisfaction as the drunk sucker ignored his logical thinking siblings and slapped down a huge wad of cash onto the pool table. He finished setting up the balls and stood back, "You're break."

Sam shot his siblings a cheeky grin, wiping it off quickly. They were just too good at this by now. After hustling people together for nearly twenty years, it was expected for one as bold as this to go off without a hitch. And they were about to get a lot of money out of this. Melody grinned twisting her feet around—a nervous tick—as the leather of her favorite cowboy boots creaked silently at her.

The youngest Winchester bent down and knocked the white cue ball and it glided beautifully across the table hitting the grouped up balls and sending a good four straight into their spots. Brian took a step back…where the hell did that come from?

Melody grinned, oh yeah…they had this one in the bag. But before Sam took his second shot, he glanced up past his siblings towards the bar. His jaw hitched, he swallowed hard and didn't even look back at the table or its occupants "Keep the money." He stood up straight, tossed his pool stick onto the table and walked off.

"_Sam!_" Melody called after him, but he just ignored her. She looked to Dean for help, who just threw out his arms,

"Keep the money?" He watched Sam walk off, following him with his eyes, "What—"

And that's when he saw what had made Sam throw away five-hundred friggin bucks. Sitting at the far corner of the bar, beer bottle clutched in her hands…Ruby sat in the shadows of the dim lights. Melody followed where Dean was staring—well more like scowling—and balled her hands into fists.

"I thought I smelled something." She grumbled, nose wrinkling up in disgust. She had thought she caught a whiff of the stale, dead aroma of a demon but had shrugged it off. That and there were so many other smells in the bar. Cigarette smoke, beer, sweat, cheap cologne...typical sleazy bar scents.

Melody and Dean walked over to quickly join/confront Ruby. Sam barely said hi to the demon before Dean stepped up behind him, "You got a lot of nerve showing up anywhere _near_ Mels and me."

"I just have some info, and then I'm gone." Ruby answered back, trying to keep as calm as possible. But it would be difficult, especially with Melody's sarcastic sneer. She crossed her arms over her chest and waved her hand through the air in front of her face,

"Make it quick honey. You're starting to stink up the place."

Before Ruby could react or even start a fight with the annoying blonde, Sam shot out an arm in front of his siblings catching the attention of the demon. "What is it?" he asked her, shooting a fairly stern warning look at his sister.

Melody just ignored him and watched Ruby take in a quick breath, "I'm hearing a few whispers." The blonde hunter couldn't help but let out a sharp snorting laugh,

"Real impressive."

Dean was in the exact same mood as her and widened his eyes in mock astonishment, "Ooh, great, demon whisperers—that's reliable." He rolled his eyes and walked around his brother, standing in front of the bar and ordering a shot of whiskey. Melody stayed next to Sam, eyeing Ruby carefully. No matter how much Sam seemed to trust the demon—she certainly didn't. There is no way a demon would just help Sam because she's nice or because she's noble. Melody mentally rolled her eyes. Heart of gold—_my ass._

Ruby ignored them and spouted out the rest of her info, "Girl named Anna Milton escaped from a locked ward yesterday. The demons seem pretty keen on finding her. Apparently some real heavy hitters turned out for the Easter-egg hunt."

Sam felt his brow crease and he crossed his arms, curious he asked, "Why? Who is she?"

"No idea." Ruby shrugged, "But I'm thinking that she's important, cause the order is to capture her alive. I just figured that whatever the deal is, you might want to find this girl before the demons do."

Melody slowly threw back her head, letting out a long winded and annoyed sigh, "Oh…great…"

Sam could see that his sister was thinking the same thing—whether she liked Ruby or not thankfully Melody could see the use in having a "friend" on the other side. Satisfied that at least Melody would back him up, he looked to Dean, "Maybe we should check it out."

Dean looked back at his siblings, large beer mug in his hands—now half empty, "Actually, we're working a case but thanks."

"What case?" Ruby challenged.

"Uh…we've got leads, big leads."

"Sounds dangerous."

"Yeah well, it sure ain't goose chasing after some chick who, for all we know, doesn't even exist just because you say she's important."

Ruby felt her patience beginning to wear thin, "I'm just delivering the news." She clipped, "You can do whatever you want with it. Far as I'm concerned I told you, I'm done."

Dean threw up his arms accepting her answer but Sam would not and quickly caught Ruby's arm before she could walk away, "Wait, wait, wait. This hospital Anna disappeared from—it got a name?"

* * *

Melody followed her brothers up the stairs. They had tracked the girl Anna to a church—her father's church. Now they were searching for the girl hoping that she was still alive and not hurt. This whole case had been keeping Melody on edge. Hell, she'd even been wearing the same damn outfit she had on when Ruby first told them about the girl. Melody couldn't explain it, but this particular case, this particular girl they were after—set her on edge. And not in a good way. She was constantly looking over her shoulder, constantly checking and (she hated to admit this part) sniffing the air. But no sign of any demon came to her. Ruby had said that the girl was important and that meant some heavy weights from downstairs were gunning for her.

Slowly, the Winchesters crept up the stairs to the large attic of the church. It was beautifully lit, with large stained glass windows filtering colored lights onto the floors and several statues of various saints and even a large white stone statue of the virgin Mary scattered across the room, slowly collecting dust but their beauty shining through all the same.

Sam gently nudged his sister, "Mel…Dean…" he whispered and pointed to a standing wall divider with a clear, stained glass center. Through the glass they could see a girl's form watching them all closely. The Winchester's holstered their pistols, and gently approached the center of the room.

"Anna?" Melody called out as gently as possible. She didn't want this girl to be afraid of them. They were here to protect her after all. "Anna—we're here to help. We won't hurt you."

The youngest Winchester spoke up, "My name is Sam. This is my sister, Melody and my brother, Dean."

"Sam?" Anna tentatively asked from her hiding place, "Not Sam Winchester?"

"Uh, yeah." Sam answered after sharing a quick, slightly confused look with his siblings. Anna came out from behind her spot then. She was actually really pretty. Long, deep red hair and large, wide dark green eyes. She had pale skin, a small nose and chin and thin lips. She stood at just about Melody's height at the end of the room, the purple and pinks of the windows reflecting on her back.

"And…Melody." Anna gently grinned at her then moved her eyes to the oldest, "And you're Dean. _The_ Dean?"

Dean was honestly a little stunned. He'd seen a few of her family pictures at her house but…had Anna gotten prettier after those were taken. Dean Winchester was never a man to be put to silence by just looking a girl but…Anna certainly had something. He paused for a minute realizing Anna had been talking to him and quickly shook his head before answering,

"Well, yeah. _The_ Dean, I guess."

"It's really you." Anna let out a breath of relief, "Oh, my God." She started walking towards them, "The angels talk about you. You were in Hell, but Castiel pulled you out, and some of them think you can help save us." Anna came to a stop a few feet in front of the Winchesters. Melody could see a light mess of freckles on the girl's nose.

Anna looked at her then, "And…and some call you an abomination." Melody honestly wasn't expecting that of all things. She felt a tiny frown form on her face and glanced at Dean who just shrugged—he was just as surprised to hear that as well. Anna ignored Melody's frown and looked at Sam,

"And some of them don't like you at all." Melody saw the small frown form on her little brother's face. Yeah…he hadn't really been expecting that either. That or he didn't really want to hear it. Anna looked between all three hunters, "They talk about you all the time lately. I feel like I know you."

She smiled sweetly at them, like she was being reunited with some of her closest friends. "So," Dean began to ask, "you talk to angels?"

"Oh no, no. No way." Anna quickly shook her head, "Um, they probably don't even know I exist. I just kind of…overhear them."

Melody stared at her, "O…_overhear_ them?"

"Yeah, they talk and sometimes I just…hear them in my head." Anna answered, stuttering a bit but overall she seemed like she was—or used to be—a pretty normal girl.

"Like…right now?" Dean asked her carefully.

"Oh," Anna glanced at him, "not right this second, but a lot. And I can't shut them out, there are so many of them."

Dean slowly started to understand her situation, "So, they lock you up with a case of the crazies when really you were just…tuning in to angel radio?"

"Yes. Thank you." Anna half smiled at him—finally someone understood.

"Anna when did the voices start?" Sam questioned, "Do you remember?"

"I can tell you exactly—September eighteenth."

Melody and Sam both looked at Dean equally freaked out. But it also validated everything Ruby had said about Anna, and everything Anna was saying. Dean blinked at his siblings, "The day I got out of Hell."

"First words I heard, clear as a bell," Anna watched the oldest as she quoted, " "Dean Winchester is saved". "

Dean glanced at Sam, "What do you think?"

"It's above my pay grade man." Sam scoffed and then the brothers looked at their sister who just shrugged,

"Well…I mean…" she trailed off, confused and not really believing what Anna was saying—but Melody could believe it. Then again…how could a human be able to hear angels and not have their head explode? When Castiel had been trying to contact Dean before, he destroyed an entire motel room. Melody sighed,

"At least we know why the demons want you so bad."

Anna stared at the hunter—her bewildered face creasing. Dean clarified, "Yeah the demons can hear everything the other side's cooking. You're 1-900-Angel." He chuckled softly and was relieved when he got a tiny, genuine smile out of the trembling Anna.

"Hey um," the red-head gently asked, "do you know—are my parents okay? I—I didn't go home. I was afraid."

Before Melody could even think of a way to answer the poor thing—her parents had unfortunately been killed by demons looking for her—the door leading to the attic slammed open. "You got the girl." Ruby marched up to them, "Good, let's go."

"Oh! Her face!" Anna cowered, stepping backwards and moving as far as possible from Ruby. Melody, feeling for the girl immediately went to her and put an arm around her shaking shoulders.

"Anna, it's alright." Melody said, attempting to calm her down. Sam held out a hand and tried the same thing,

"It's okay. She's here to help."

"Yeah, don't be so sure." Dean said flatly, watching Ruby cautiously. Melody rolled her eyes, now was not the time to get in a pissing match with the demon. As much as Melody enjoyed bothering and ultimately hurting/possibly killing Ruby, now was not the time.

"We have to hurry." Ruby insisted, ignoring Dean.

"Why?" Dean asked—still not convinced that Ruby was there to help them. Ruby let out a sharp, aggravated breath,

"Because a demon's coming—big-timer. We can fight later Dean."

The oldest squared his shoulders a bit, moving to stand just a little more in front of his sister and Anna. "Well, that's pretty convenient—showing up right when we find the girl with some bigwig on your tail?"

"I didn't bring him here." Ruby sighed in frustration, "_You_ did."

"What?" Dean didn't understand what she was talking about.

Ruby's voice rose in volume—out of frustration or urgency, Melody couldn't really tell. "He followed you from the girl's house. We got to go _now_."

"Dean—Mel." Sam got his brother and sister's attention and pointed to the one Virgin Mary statue in the room. Melody felt her eyes go wide. The statue was crying…blood.

"It's too late." Ruby muttered, staring at the statue in quiet apprehension. "He's here."

Melody and Sam shared a quick glance before springing into action. Sam took hold of Anna's arm while his sister gently pushed the girl along. They led her to a small closet off to the side of the room. Sam opened up the door and Melody pushed her inside, "Okay stay in there alright? Don't move."

Anna nodded and backed up to the far wall of the small closet, sitting in the corner. Satisfied that she would be safe for the moment, Sam and Melody joined their brother and Ruby in the center of the room. Melody stood next to Dean who gripped her shoulder tightly, "Stay behind me. Got it?"

"Yeah—yeah I got it." Melody nodded already beginning to power up, her fists clenching tightly. Sam walked past them pulling out a flask from inside his jacket. Ruby watched him and shook her head,

"No Sam you got to pull him right away."

"What?" Melody stared at the flask—what the hell was in it?

Dean held out a hand to his brother, "Whoa, hold on a sec."

Ruby turned to him—frustration with Melody and her brother evident, "Now's _not_ the time to bellyache about Sam going dark side. He does his thing, he exorcises that demon, or we die." Melody and her brother grew silent, they knew Ruby was right. Doesn't mean I have to like it, Melody thought bitterly to herself turning to watch her little brother's back. He stood right in front of them, squaring his shoulders preparing himself for the fight. Not half a second later, Melody could feel the air growing heavier and heavier and soon the door to the attic was slammed open. A man—obviously the big-wig demon from downstairs—walked up the steps, scowl plastered on his angular face.

His scent was absolutely putrid. Melody wrinkled her nose in disgust. She's only ever smelled something like that a few times before—and it was a smell that never left your mind. Burning flesh. The demon reeked of it.

He came up and around the steps, casually wiping dust off of the banister before coming to a stop several feet in front of the Winchesters and Ruby. Sam sucked in a quick breath and held out his hand; calling on all of his strength he began to exorcise the demon.

The demon grabbed his throat; eyes flicking to pale white orbs or a half second and then coughed—cleared his throat. "That tickles." He chuckled. Sam slowly lowered his hand, cold fear rising up in his stomach. The demon playfully wiggled a finger at Sam, "You don't have the juice to take me on Sam."

Before Melody could blink, the demon made a grabbing motion in the air and Sam was pulled across the room and thrown down the stairs. Dean was the first to respond to the demon. He pulled out the knife once owned by Ruby and aimed to stab the demon straight through the heart.

He reacted quickly and turned, grabbing Dean by the throat and chuckled darkly. "Hello again, Dean." The demon backed Dean up and then slammed him into a pillar.

Melody looked around and saw Ruby opening up the closet door and heard Anna scream in fear. "Shit!" she cursed running over to the closet. "Dammit Ruby sto…" by the time she got there…Ruby was already gone. Melody gripped her head and kicked the wall, "Fuck!"

She looked back, saw Dean getting beaten and wailed on by the demon and let out another stream of curses. She powered up and ran over to him. "Alastair…" she heard Dean grumbled up at him. Must be his name, Melody thought in passing before reaching out and grabbing Alastair by the shoulders.

She grunted and yanked him away. Alastair stumbled but quickly caught himself, staring at the gold haired hunter in front of him he grinned wickedly, "Oh…aren't you special then." He took a few steps closer to her, "Look at those eyes. Aren't you a lucky duck."

Melody snarled and threw out her fist, knocking him across the jaw. Alastair's head whipped to the side as he grunted in surprise. He looked back at the girl, grinned and wiped the blood from his mouth. Before he could speak, Sam came up behind him and stabbed Alastair through the shoulder with the demon knife.

Alastair jerked, his shoulder flashing orange light but he didn't fall over. Instead he whipped around and grabbed Sam by the shoulders, "You're gonna have to try a whole lot harder than that, son." He threw Sam away and into Melody who nearly fell over catching her little brother. Melody felt her powers dissipate as she and Sam ran over to their big brother who was leaning heavily against the wood support beam. Melody and Sam both grabbed one of Dean's arms, stared at his bloodied mouth and worn out eyes. The Winchesters shared a look—they knew they were outmatched, and they knew they had to get out and _fast_. Melody looked around for a quick exit. They couldn't go down the stairs and out the front door. Mister "I'm a heavy-weight demon" might catch up with them. That's when she saw it…

"Window." Melody muttered gesturing to the large, stained glass window at the far end of the attic. Alastair was still trying to yank the demon knife out of his shoulder so now was their perfect chance to get out. The brothers went first ahead of Melody who pushed them in front of her. She'd rather they get out before her and have Alastair not have any chance to get to them.

The window shattered, the Winchesters flailing their arms around mid-air trying to slow down their fall. Melody tucked and rolled, feeling a number of fresh bruises form on her arms and shoulders. She heard Dean let out a loud groan, "I think I broke my shoulder." He grumbled rolling over onto his back. Melody got up, ignoring her pain and quickly grabbed Dean, pulling him up.

"Let's go." She let him lean on her, throwing his good arm over her shoulder. "Sammy! Come on!" Melody called already headed for the Impala. By the time they arrived back at the motel, they had assessed the damage of each other. Sam had a large cut through his left bicep, Dean had a dislocated shoulder, and Melody had bruises all over her right arm and legs from the fall.

Sam groaned, looking away as his sister stuck the needle through his skin again. "Dammit that hurts."

Melody pulled the thread of her last stitch through his wound, "Don't be such a baby." She yanked the thread until it became taut, and then snipped the remainder.

Dean spit out the blood from his mouth into the bathroom sink, "You almost done Mels?" he asked her watching his sister care for their brother in the mirror. Since she wasn't as badly injured as her brothers, it was her job to play doctor.

"Almost done." She replied. Reaching over, she picked up a bottle of whisky, sipped at it and then held it up for Sam to see. "Ready?" When he nodded, she turned the bottle upside down and poured the golden brown liquid over his wound. Sam hissed and grunted throwing his head back and silently cursing.

Melody stood up, "Okay, you're all set." Sam nodded and reached for the whiskey bottle. "Hey! No alcohol baby bro."

Sam let out a frustrated sigh, "Melody now is not the time for an intervention."

"It's not an intervention, dumb." She chuckled, "There's some pain meds in my bag and you can't mix them with alcohol. So…you get water." She grinned and handed him a bottle of water she had set aside when they first got back to the room. "Okay Dean, let's do this."

"Finally." Dean groaned coming into the room, "I've got a dislocated shoulder here you know."

"Yeah, yeah I know." She pulled out the desk chair and made for him to sit down.

"Whenever you're ready Mels." He leaned back in the seat and braced himself. Melody came around to stand behind him and gently poked at his shoulder, assessing exactly where the dislocation had occurred.

"Do you want a countdown or…"

"Nope. Just do it when I'm least expecting it." Dean grumbled. Melody nodded and poked at his shoulder again. Dean looked up at his brother, "So, you lost the magic knife, huh?"

"Yeah, saving _your_ ass." Sam grumbled, wiping away the blood from his arm, "Who the hell was that demon?"

"No one good." Dean answered, "We got to find Anna—actually Mels," he stopped getting his sister's attention, "do a countdown."

"Ruby's got her." Sam said, "I'm sure she's okay."

Melody chewed her lip and nodded, "Alright brother-bear." She moved around to his right side. Dean bent over slightly, braced his left hand on his knee and felt Melody pick up his arm in one hand and brace the other against his shoulder. "On three." She nodded at him, "One—"

"Aahh!" Dean cried, his sister having snapped his shoulder back as soon as she had said "one". Dean stood up, pacing and trying to walk off the pain as he bit back a waterfall of obscene curses.

"Okay tough guy," Melody said gently sitting him back down in the chair. She reached for her small medical bag and pulled out a cotton ball and some antiseptic, "Clean up your face."

Dean nodded, silently thanking her and began to do as she ordered. The brothers normally never argued with their sister when she went into doctor mode. She was the best out of the three of them, having always been the one to be the default doctor in the family. Melody quickly went to the bathroom, soaked a towel in warm water and then joined her little brother on the bed, dabbing away at the drying blood.

"So," Dean winced as he dabbed the cotton ball on his lip, "you sure about Ruby? Cause I think it's just as likely she used us to find radio girl and then brought that demon in to kill us."

"No, she took Anna to keep her safe." Sam shook his head. Melody just sighed,

"Well she could have _told_ me that at least—hell she could have even taken me with her."

Dean rolled his shoulder, grimacing. Melody handed Sam the wet towel before standing up and grabbing an ice pack from the tiny fridge in the room. She went around behind her big brother and gently held the ice pack to his shoulder. "Just keep it there okay?" she gently ordered as Dean took the pack in his hand.

When he nodded she seemed satisfied and moved back to stand next to Sam. Dean glanced at his siblings and huffed, "Well, why hasn't she called to tell us where she is?"

"Because that demon is probably watching us right now," Sam answered heatedly, "waiting to follow us right back to Anna again. That's why he let us go."

Dean chuckled, "You call this letting us go?"

"Yeah I do." Sam replied. Melody sat down next to him again and examined his stitches. She wiped a bit more blood off the wound and then pressed the towel to his arm.

"Keep a bit of pressure on it—at least till the bleeding stops." She said and then glanced behind her shoulder at Dean, "I don't know I have to agree with Sam on this one. I mean, killing us would have been no problem to that thing."

"Exactly." Sam agreed, "That's why for now, we just got to lay low and wait for Ruby to contact us."

"How is she gonna do that?" Dean questioned, rolling his shoulder again. Melody put Sam's hand over the towel and stood up going for the medical kit again. It was a tiny red bag that she had been adding and adding to over the years. She dug through its contents before pulling out a small, unlabeled white pill bottle.

"Here." she put one in both of her brother's hands, "Take one, it should help dull the pain."

Dean stared down at the tiny blue pill, "Uh…where did you get this? And what the hell is it?"

Melody grinned, "Well its hydrocodone if you must know. And…I may or may not have raided a pharmacy one time when you two were playing cops." She innocently shrugged her shoulders and handed her big brother the second bottle of water she'd been saving.

"Mels…you stole from a pharmacy? When? Where?" Dean asked her, surprised to hear about his sister's criminal activities. It wasn't so much that he was condoning her stealing—he did that himself plenty of times—but he was more concerned about the fact that pharmacies are covered to the brim with security cameras.

"Come on. I've been stealing crap for twenty-something years Dean. Pretty sure I know how to swipe a few pain pills from a drug store without getting seen."

He had to give her that. Dean glanced at the little pill again, shrugged and swallowed it taking a sip of water to help wash it down. The Winchesters all fell into a pausing silence. It wasn't so much tense or comfortable. It was just the kind of silence where…two parties knew they had the same question and the third party was waiting for the two parties to ask said question.

"Sam…" Melody began—electing to be the one who asked what she and Dean had been wanting to know all this time, "why do you trust Ruby so much?"

The youngest sighed, "I told you."

Dean glanced at his sister, threw his ice pack onto the table and let out a sharp breath, "You got to do better than that. Hey, and we're not trying to pick a fight here. I mean, we both really want to understand. But…we need to know more. We _deserve_ to know more."

Sam got quiet, staring down at the cheap carpet and counting the threads. The muscles in his jaw worked, mouth going into a thin line before he slowly began, "Because…she saved my life."

* * *

_Awww, sister Melody is being all nice to her brothers :) honestly I loved the part where Melody just popped Dean's shoulder back into place without really counting. I giggled. There will be a picture of Melody's outfit from this chapter on my tumblr if you're curious._

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	35. Firefly

**Wow this chapter got long! That's probably because of certain feel inducing scenes plus a pretty badass speech Melody gives. I'm proud of that one :) Sorry it took me a while guys, like I said, school has started up again and college professors just love to pile on all that lovely homework. Yay...**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter...hope you enjoy! Love you guys!**

* * *

Sam told his siblings his story of how Ruby saved him—even getting them to gag when he gave out a bit too much information. "Ew…Sam I don't want to hear that." Melody had grumbled swatting the air in front of her, trying to get the images out of her head. But he did tell them how the demon had helped him find a purpose again, helped him learn how to use his psychic powers and even stop him from basically committing suicide. Dean and Melody had to admit…they might have been a little wrong about her.

When Ruby came to them, disguised as a hotel maid, and told them where to find her, the Winchesters did not hesitate. They had to leave the Impala behind and instead stole a rusty pick-up from the parking lot. By the time they arrived at the cabin and greeted Anna, it was already two in the morning. Dean had—awkwardly—tried to apologize to Ruby and Melody hadn't even tried. She just nodded at Ruby and stiffly patted her on the shoulder muttering a quiet, "thanks" before turning back to Anna.

"Hey Melody," Anna asked getting her attention, "do you think it'd be safe to make a quick call, just to tell my parents I'm okay? They must be completely freaked."

"Um…" Melody opened and closed her mouth glancing at her brothers for help, but they didn't know how to go about breaking the news to Anna either.

The red-head stared up at the Winchesters, "What?" Melody let out a sharp breath muttered, "Dammit." And then moved to sit down next to the girl,

"Anna, um…your parents—"

"What about them?" she asked, shoulders tensing.

Melody sighed, "Anna I'm sorry—"

"No," she quickly shook her head, "no they're not…" When Melody solemnly nodded, Anna let out a loud sob, bowed her head and held her face as her shoulders began to quake. Melody felt empathy for her and gently put a hand to Anna's back. "Why is this happening to me?!" Anna cried throwing out her hands and shaking them.

She bent her head down again, gripping at her scalp, sobbing uncontrollably. She cried for a moment longer, trembling and wailing until she picked up her head and gasped. Anna stared at the ceiling. Now her hands began shaking—not from grief but from fear. "They're coming." She panted and Melody froze.

Did she mean demons? Or angels? Either way, Anna was terrified of whoever was on their way. The lights in the room started flickering, electricity crackling and the air grew thick. "Oh crap…" Melody stood up and grabbed Anna by the arms pulling her up as Dean ordered,

"Back room!"

Melody put the girl in the room, "Lock the door when I close it." As the hunter shut the door she heard the lock click in place. Melody moved over to her brothers and grabbed the shotgun Dean was handing her. He pulled out the last shotgun from the ammo bag on the chair and all three stood next to each other, preparing their weapons.

Ruby ran over to the bag and dug through it, though her hands came up empty. "Where's the knife?" she asked in slight, hurried panic.

"Uh…about that…" Dean mumbled awkwardly scratching his head.

"You're kidding." Ruby sneered up at him.

Dean just shrugged, "Hey, don't look at me."

Ruby turned her accusing gaze to Melody who held up her hands, "Me either." She looked at her little brother who opened and closed his mouth trying to find a way to defend himself when Ruby stared at him harshly.

Sam let out a sharp breath and looked at his siblings, "Thanks a lot." Dean and Melody could only grin at him. Yup, they knew they were assholes. Sam rolled his eyes; he should have expected that from his brother and sister.

"Great." Ruby grumbled, "Just peachy. Impeccable timing guys, really."

Melody was going to tell her to shove it but stopped when the front door of the cabin began knocking and rattling violently. There was a loud, bracing gust of wind that blew back everyone's hair. And as soon as Melody and her brothers began lifting their shotguns, the door was thrown open by an invisible force.

There was a soft sound. The sound of wind hitting fabric or wings flapping against the air…and Castiel walked around and into the cabin. Melody felt her heart stop, "Castiel…" she whispered both in awe and surprise. Closely behind Castiel his companion Uriel came bounding in.

Cas glanced at Melody and gave her a small, barely there nod of greeting before looking over at Ruby. The demon's eyes went all black as she stared at the angels in front of her. Melody immediately felt the tension between the angels and the demon.

"Please tell me you're here to help." Dean breathed out noticing how Melody couldn't seem to keep her eyes off Castiel. He wrote it off as her just being cautious and continued speaking to the angels, "We've been having demon issues all day."

"Well I can see that." Uriel commented nodding toward Ruby, "You want to explain why you have that _stain_ in the room?"

The Winchesters were at a loss for words. They had no idea how to explain _that_ to the angels. Melody opened her mouth to try and explain but was interrupted by Castiel,

"We're here for Anna." He announced, all but ignoring the giant elephant in the room that was Ruby.

Melody watched him carefully, feeling her brow scrunch up, "What?"

Dean was equally as puzzled, "Here for her like…_here_ for her?"

"Stop talking." Uriel ordered, "Give her to us." Melody scoffed and crossed her arms,

"Well you could at least ask nicely—hell I'd prefer if you _explained yourselves_." Uriel scowled at Melody, not at all liking her snarky attitude.

"Are you gonna help her?" Sam asked, hoping for the answer he wanted to hear. Castiel watched the hunters and the demon and answered flatly,

"No. She has to die."

Sam gaped at him, "Why?"

"Out of the way." Uriel ordered taking a step towards them. Dean held out a hand,

"Whoa, whoa, whoa okay I know she's wiretapping your angel chats or whatever, but it's no reason to gank her."

Uriel grinned, "Don't worry. I'll kill her gentle."

"I don't think so." Melody sneered; eyes flashing silver for a half second as she moved stand a little bit closer to him, putting on her most threatening gaze.

Dean grimaced, "You're some heartless sons of bitches, you know that?"

"As a matter of fact, we are." Castiel admitted eyes downcast acknowledging what Dean had said. He looked back up at him, "And?"

"Castiel you can't do this." Melody implored, "Anna's an innocent girl!"

"She is far from innocent." Castiel answered her and she could see he really believed it to be true.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Dean asked, growing slightly impatient.

"It means she's worse than this piece of garbage you've been screwing and your abomination for a sister combined." Uriel scowled at Ruby again before turning his harsh gaze onto Melody. "Now give us the girl."

Castiel couldn't look at the Winchesters, especially Melody. He didn't like that everyone called her that. She wasn't and abomination…she was far from it.

Dean sneered at Uriel, "First off, you lost the tiny ounce of respect I had for you—if there ever was any—when you called my baby sister here an abomination. So that being said," he grinned, "sorry. Get yourself another one. Try JDate."

"Who's gonna stop us?" Uriel questioned, "You three? Or this demon whore?" The angel grabbed Ruby by the throat, lifting her off the ground and throwing her across the room. Ruby smashed into a window, glass shattering as she fell to the floor. Uriel quickly grabbed her up again, and began choking her. Sam and Dean reacted quickly, running over and trying to fight Uriel off of her.

Uriel whirled, knocking Sam in the jaw and he fell to the floor unconscious. Dean slammed the butt of his shotgun into Uriel's shoulder, but the angel was unaffected and quickly grabbed Dean by the throat. "I've been waiting a long time for this." He grinned, beginning to throw punch after punch into Dean's jaw.

Melody however, could not worry about her brothers at the moment. Right now, she had to focus on keeping the angels away from Anna. Melody saw Castiel make for the back room where Anna was hiding and ran in front of him, holding out her hands and slowly backing up.

"Cas, stop. Please you don't have to do this."

"Move aside Melody. This must be done." Castiel kept walking forward, but Melody did not move and instead kept backing up until she felt her spine hit the locked door to the back room. Castiel stood right in front of her, lowering his face so his nose was a mere inches from touching her own.

Melody ignored her sudden racing heart. She was not staring into his eyes—no way in hell was she even trying to memorize the deep beautiful blues that swirled together. Casteil seemed a bit surprised at her bravery, standing up to an angel. And Melody was surprised at herself as well. Castiel terrified her. He made her feel so vulnerable and she felt like he could read all of her thought just by looking at her. But MelodyShe knew he couldn't do his magic, two fingers equals sleep trick on her. The last time he tried it didn't work at all.

Instead, Castiel slowly reached around her trying to grab for the doorknob, hoping that he wouldn't have to resort to violence. Melody reached back and took hold of his wrist, stopping his hand from moving any further, "I can't let you do that Cas."

He let out a slow breath, "Melody please—"

"Sorry about this." She grinned apologetically at him before powering up. Her eyes turned into bright, luminescent silver coins and before Castiel could react, she pulled back and headbutted him square in the forehead. Castiel, surprised and slightly dazed, fell backwards a few steps letting out a soft grunt. He looked back up to find Melody staring at him with her silver eyes glowing brightly.

Before he could react or even think, Castiel felt a force begin to pull and push him back. There was a loud crash of thunder outside, lighting flashed and filled the room. Cas was the first to be thrown away. Melody watched, covering her eyes from the blinding light as he tried to fight against the force but he wasn't strong enough and was blown back and out of the room, his black wings showing for a half second before he disappeared. Melody looked over; saw Uriel struggling against the same force seeming to wince in pain before he too was blown back and away.

Dean blinked when the bright lights and the angels had vanished. He stumbled, nearly fell over as he struggled to stand and went over to a slightly shaken Ruby. He helped her up and both went over to Sam who was slowly getting up off the floor.

"Mels." Dean sighed moving over to his sister quickly. She was staring at the spot Castiel had just been standing in, her eyes wide, shoulders tense. Dean gripped her shoulders and gave her a slight squeeze, "Hey…you alright?"

She seemed startled, and blinked several times before registering that it was her brother standing in front of her. "Yeah…" Melody mumbled shaking her head, "I'm fine just…yeah I'm fine." But she wasn't fine. In all honesty, Melody was on the opposite end of fine. She watched the spot where Castiel had just been standing, barely a foot in front of her and felt…she didn't really know what she felt. Fear most likely. But Melody couldn't or didn't want to feel fear. He was a threat, it's a good thing he's gone or dead…but…why did she feel this cold fear in the pit of her stomach at the thought of Cas being dead?

Dean not noticing his sister or choosing to ignore it, moved past her and banged on the back room door, "Anna? Anna you alright?" He heard the lock of the door click open and he didn't hesitate to throw open the door. He saw Anna leaning against the wall, clutching a bleeding wrist to her chest and a bloody symbol messily drawn on the mirror.

"Are…are they gone?" she panted letting Dean lead her into a chair. He pulled out a rag from his pocket, one he always kept with him incase either of his siblings needed a quick, on-the-go bandage and started wrapping it around Anna's open wrist wound.

Melody hesitantly came into the room, assessed the damage Anna had done to herself and glanced at the mirror. "Did…" she swallowed staring at the bloody symbol, "did you kill them?"

"No." Anna winced when Dean tightened the rag, "I sent them away. Far away."

"Well can you tell us how?" Dean asked her pressing his hand down onto Anna's wrist. The red head looked back up at the mirror,

"That just popped in my head. I don't know how I did it. I just did it."

Dean looked up at his sister, both with equal looks of confusion and slight fear. Dean because he was starting to realize that this girl was far more than just someone who could hear angels talk, and Melody because…well…she wanted to know what had happened to Castiel and if he was alright. Despite the fact that he was a cold, stiff, black and white kind of person (could she even call him a person? He was an angel…not human) she still remembered the small, sort-of friendship they'd shared. A part of her had hoped that they would be able to reform whatever bond they had created. And when he had been sent away, for a moment Melody was afraid he'd been killed. And the icy, empty feeling in the pit of her stomach that had made her heart cease in her chest for a moment was something she never wanted to feel again.

After Dean had secured the make-shift bandage around Anna's wrist, he'd asked Ruby to keep an eye on her while the Winchesters discussed what had just happened. Dean pulled the door to Anna's room closed leaving it open just an inch before turning to find his brother and sister standing next to each other in the main room of the cabin.

"So, whaqt do you think?" Dean asked them. Melody just shrugged, ran a hand through her hair and looked up at Sam who supplied the answer for both of them,

"I think Anna's getting more interesting by the second."

Dean voiced his agreement. And he knew when Sam said "interesting" he really meant "weird/creepy/strangely helpful". Melody sighed, crossed her arms over her chest and nodded towards the back room, "What the hell did they mean by "she's not innocent" anyway?"

Sam shrugged, "I don't know. It seems like they want her bad. And not just cause of the angel radio thing. I mean that blood spell…" he gestured to the back room, slowly shaking his head, "I don't know but that's some serious crap."

"Yeah…" Melody chewed her lip and looked at the closed door, "something's going on with her…"

Dean rubbed a hand down his face, trying to think of something that they could do. All he knew was that they needed to get Anna to a safe place. And that's when it hit him. He patted Melody's shoulder and nodded his head towards Sam, "You two see what you can find out."

"What are you gonna do?" Sam asked, knowing his sister would ask the exact same thing. Dean put one hand into his jacket pocket and used the other to point behind himself,

"Anna maybe have sent the angels to the outfield, but sooner or later, they're gonna be back. We got to get ourselves safe now."

Normally, Melody would have argued against her brother. She knew now that she could at least hurt the angles, if not stun them for a bit. And if the angles were after Anna, she probably should stick with the girl. But…Anna did say that she had sent the angels "far away" whatever the hell that meant. And Melody was already drained from their long car ride and didn't feel like arguing. So she went with her little brother, took the Impala and drove to the nearest library. Thankfully they were in South Dakota, only a few hours from Bobby's place and they were going to meet back at his home when Sam and her had found what they were looking for.

She let Sam do most of the work and instead decided to change into some fresh clothes—she had been wearing the same outfit for almost three days straight. Much to Sam's protest—Melody ignored him mostly—and quickly found a cheap motel room so she could use the shower. She wanted to look good for—

No. No she did not. She just didn't want to smell like sweat and feel grimy the rest of the day. And she kept repeating that to herself as she pulled on her worn, lace up boots and quickly smudged some shadows onto her eyelids. Yeah, this was all just for her…

They made their way back to Bobby's after calling him to see if they could use the place. He allowed it with a salty warning of "you break it you buy it" and hung up quickly afterwards. Apparently, he was in the Dominican. Why, Melody did not want to know and she and her brothers were now suffering an image of Bobby in a banana hammock and trucker cap sipping from a coconut.

Sam and Melody—well mostly Sam—gave Dean the summary of what they could find on Anna. It was all fairly normal. Her parents where Rich and Amy Milton, a church deacon and a housewife and it didn't seem like much until Sam pointed out that Anna's latest episode wasn't the first. Apparently she had suffered from extreme hysterics when she was about two years old everytime her father came close to her. She was convinced that he wasn't her real father. And she didn't say who her real father was, only that he was mad with her—like wanted to kill her mad.

And when Anna had come into the room, a bit angry at the fact that the Winchesters were digging into her past and not asking her themselves, the siblings had all come to the same conclusion. If Anna didn't know why the angles wanted her so bad, then they needed to get someone who was better than Sam at digging for answers. Melody had to grin at the thought of seeing the psychic again…she loved how Pam got her brothers feeling uncomfortable.

Within an hour, Dean had returned with Pamela in tow. She was now blind and had to wear a pair of thick black sunglasses over her eyes. And when Pam had taken them off, showing Anna and Melody a pair of fake, plastic, cloudy eyes she had laughed and said "it makes me look extra psychic". Once introductions had been made—and after Pam awkwardly grabbed Sam's butt and revealed that she could see relatively well using her senses, they all gathered in the panic room (except Ruby who stood just outside the doors) and Pam began her work with Anna.

* * *

"Nice and relaxed." Pam's calming voice echoed against the iron walls of the panic room. Melody stood at the door by Sam and Ruby stood just outside of the room. Dean was at the far wall next to Anna who was laid down in the bed while Pam sat in a chair just next to Anna.

The psychic took in a deep breath and continued, "Now, I'm going to count down from five to zero. When we're at zero, you'll be in a deep state of hypnosis. As I count down, just go deeper and deeper, okay? Five…four…three…two…one…deep sleep." Pam reached up and gently touched Anna's forehead, continuing to speak in a soothing voice, "Deep sleep. Every muscle calm and relaxed. Can you hear me?"

Anna, with her arms laid out straight at her sides on the bed spoke in a hushed voice, "I can hear you." Melody had seen a few hypnosis techniques before—real and fake. She had to admit, even she felt a little relaxed listening to Pam slowly speak to the girl.

"Now, Anna, tell me…how can you hear the angels? How did you work that spell?"

"I don't know." She answered, "I just did."

"You're father." Pam questioned, "What's his name?"

Anna's eyes danced behind her lids, "Rich Milton."

Pamela nodded, "Alright. But I want you to look further back…when you were very young just a couple of years old." Anna shook her head,

"I don't wanna."

"It'll be okay." Pam reached out and gently touched the girl's wrist as she started to twitch, "Anna, just one look—that's all we need."

Anna turned her head away from the wall and grimaced, "No."

"What's your dad's name? Your real dad. Why is he angry at you?"

"No. No!" Anna called out, beginning to pant and thrash around on the bed. "No." The lights started to flicker and before Melody could even blink, Anna arched her back, threw back her head and screeched out at the top of her lungs, "No!"

Pam held out her hands, "Calm down—"

"No! He's gonna kill me!"

"Anna you're safe." Pam tried but Anna just kept screaming. Melody heard a loud, metallic, creaking sound and glanced back to find the door to the panic room slam shut and lock into place. She heard Ruby bang on the door for a half second before the lights in the room burst and sparks flew down over them. Anna kept screaming and sat up in the bed, gripping the sheets, clenching her eyes shut.

Melody was amazed to see Pam staying calm and not freaking out because she certainly was. Anna kept yelling out that "he's gonna kill me" and Pam kept telling her she was "safe" and "everything is alright". But Melody felt far from that. Melody moved to go help Anna, but she felt Sam grip her arms,

"Don't!" he cried over the noises and Anna's shrieks. Melody looked back and saw Dean moving to help. As he reached for Anna, Pam called for him to stop but he just ignored her and paid the price. Anna threw back the arm Dean had grabbed, sending him flying backwards into a desk. Melody felt her eyes widen, where the hell had Anna gotten that kind of strength? Melody and Sam ran over to help their brother stand up, and dusted a few papers off of his shoulders.

Pam stood up and held out her hands to Anna, "Wake in one, two, three, four, five." Immediately, Anna calmed down, lying back on the bed, panting and wheezing. "Anna…you alright?" Pam asked her, gently patting at the top of the girl's head.

Anna blinked open her eyes and slowly sat up in the bed, "Thank you Pamela. That helped a lot." Melody immediately noticed the slight change in her. The way she was speaking, how her back seemed straighter, hell even the way she blinked look different. Anna let out a quick breath, "I remember now."

"Remember what?" Sam posed the question that everyone else in the room was thinking. Anna looked up at him,

"Who I am."

Melody felt her breath quicken, but she didn't want to ask. Not after that display. Dean however was brave enough to ask, "I'll bite. Who are you."

"I'm an angel."

* * *

The cool night air blew past Melody, gently wafting her hair back and around in all directions. She glanced back, the moonlight shined down on the barn she, her brothers, Ruby and Anna had taken shelter in. They had learned from Anna that she had fallen from Heaven on purpose. She'd chosen to be human. And her grace was left behind somewhere in Kentucky. They'd driven all night and came to a large oak tree that the locals said was a true miracle. And it sure looked like it. The oak was large, towering over every other tree in the small brush of forest surrounding it, with large, vibrant green leaves and sturdy branches. It was beautiful and Melody couldn't help but feel a bit more relaxed when she was around it.

Now she was pacing, unable to sleep thinking that this was possibly going to be the last night her brother Dean had on Earth. Earlier, Anna had said that the angels were demanding the Winchesters hand her over, or they throw Dean back down into the pit. And Melody knew her brother well enough by now. She knew he wasn't going to budge and…she wasn't going to either. As much as she couldn't stand the idea of Dean going back to hell, as much as she couldn't even begin to think about what life had been like without her big brother around—she knew the right thing to do was to help Anna.

Melody felt her boots crunch the dry twigs in the dirt and crossed her arms over her stomach, holding her leather jacket closed. She eventually came to the large oak tree and leaned against its sturdy trunk, staring out at the large empty field. The moon cast a cool, silvery light over everything giving the forest a dreamy feel. She had gone to find her brother Dean before but decided not to when she saw two figures lying down in the back seat, one very obviously her brother and the other a red-headed girl.

Yeah, last night on Earth…I get that. Melody chewed her lip. Dean had Anna, Sam…had Ruby (as much as Melody didn't really want to think about _that_) and she had…well no one. That was alright though. Honestly she liked sitting—well now she was standing—out in the moonlight and just thinking. She rarely had time like this to herself. Usually she was with her brothers, or with Bobby, or a combination of the three. It wasn't that she didn't mind being around her little family—she just needed her own space sometimes.

She sighed contentedly knowing full well that she may die tomorrow trying to protect a girl she only met three days ago. The wind picked up a bit, blowing her hair into her face for a moment. Melody huffed and pushed her hair back, only to freeze in place. Standing just a foot in front of her…was Castiel.

He watched her for a long moment, seeming to decide if he should speak to her or not, and—growing impatient—Melody let out a sharp breath, "What do you want?"

"I came to speak with you." He answered, taking a few steps towards her closing the distance between them. Now he only stood a couple steps in front of her. Melody looked up at him and scoffed,

"Look featherhead if you're here to try and implore or…I don't know ask me to get Dean to see reason and just hand over Anna, you're makin a big mistake. Cause I am not giving her to you. She's the only angel I've met who I actually like so," she waved her hand through the air, "fly away or whatever."

"I do not want to resort to using force Melody. Despite what you may think, I do not want you or your brothers to be harmed."

"Then back off." She said heatedly, "You don't my brothers hurt? You don't want me hurt? Then take your balls out of your purse—and _for once_ don't follow your orders."

Castiel seemed shocked at her words, staring at her with wide eyes. His jaw clenched, he glanced down at his shoes and took in a few shallow breaths. When he looked back up at her, Melody thought for a moment he would actually agree with her. But all of her hopes were crushed the instant Castiel opened his mouth,

"My orders are just. Anna is not innocent."

Melody threw out her arms incredulously, "Why? Because she wanted to live like a human? Because she wanted to know what a cheeseburger tastes like? Or how it feels to really cry?" Melody felt a wash of bravery and stepped up to the angel, closing the distance between them. She was now just a few inches away from him,

"Because she wanted to know what it feels like to fall in love?" Melody was now breathing hard, her chest rising and falling. Slowly, she started to shake her head, "No—there is absolutely _nothing_ wrong with that. And damn whoever says otherwise. Free will comes with a price Cas…but it's a price every human on this God forsaken rock is more than willing to pay."

She took in a deep breath, not finished with her little speech and Castiel didn't seem to want to stop her either. So she continued, voice getting calm but staying strong,

"You told me once that you like to watch us—watch me. If you watched me so much…then you know why I can't let you do this."

Done with her little speech, Melody took a half step back and looked away and down to her left hoping that he would get the hint and flutter off. And Melody thought he did until she felt a gentle hand touch her right shoulder. She looked over, saw Castiel had taken hold of her shoulder, fingers grazing over the pieces of hair that rested there. And she couldn't look away from his hand, and she didn't want him to move it either. But he did…slowly, very carefully. As his hand came away, he cupped it, and Melody could hear a faint buzzing and clicking coming from it.

That's when she saw the little flashes of light between his fingers. Castiel stared down at his hand and Melody couldn't help but give him a tiny half smile. "Congratulations. You just caught yourself your first firefly."

The tiny bug clicked and flashed it's light. Cas looked at his hand questioningly, "Why is it making those noises?"

"It wants you to let him go Cas." Melody answered, mouth turning up in a more full grin when she watched his curious gaze. He stared at his fingers, brow creasing,

"I don't…I do not wish to harm it." He looked up at her then, blue eyes reflecting the moonlight at her. Melody sighed, let out a breathy laugh and walked up to him again. This time she slowly reached out and took hold of his hand with both of hers.

"Here," she said turning his wrist upwards, "like this. Just…slowly pull your fingers back and…" She held onto his calloused fingers with her own, relishing at how warm they felt against her skin. Castiel let her guide his fingers open and when his last one came undone, the little firefly buzzed off, clicking and flashing its light at them.

"There." Melody smiled watching the bug, "Now he's free." She watched the firefly for a moment longer until she couldn't see it anymore and looked back only to find Castiel watching her instead.

They stared at each other for what felt to Melody like an eternity. Were his eyes always so blue? Did he always have that straight of a nose? But it wasn't exactly straight…sort of crooked in a way that just screamed Castiel to her.

She took in a breath, "Did I…did I hurt you the other night? You know with the…head thing?"

Castiel reached up, gently poked at his forehead, "At the time…yes. Now I don't feel anything."

Melody nodded, silently cheering. Well now she knew that she could at least hurt angels for a short time. That would certainly come in handy later. She stared at her boots, feeling a last, small ounce of bravery in her she sighed,

"Cas?" Hoping she'd said that loud enough to get his attention she continued, keeping her eyes downcast, "Please don't send Dean back down to Hell. He…he's my brother—and he's only doing what he thinks is right. And when the time comes I hope—"

She looked back up, only to find the spot where Castiel had just been standing empty. Melody sighed, felt the muscles in her jaw and cheeks work and whispered to the air, "…hope you can do the same."

* * *

The next morning the Winchesters had gathered in the barn with Anna. Sam paced back and forth while his siblings sat next to each other, sharing a flask of whiskey. "I don't know guys." Sam sighed feeling a cold chill crawl up his spine, "Where's Ruby?" He'd been looking for her all morning and there was no sign of her anywhere.

Dean shrugged, "Hey, she's your Hell buddy." He grumbled taking the flask from his sister who just rolled her eyes at him and moved over next to her little brother, hoping to comfort him. Instead, Sam just paced a bit more, nervous and anxious all at once.

"Little early for that isn't it?" Anna asked Dean, coming to a stop a few steps in front of him. Dean glanced up at her,

"It's two A.M. somewhere."

"You okay?" she asked, and Melody felt a tiny pang of jealousy. Wasn't she supposed to be the one asking Dean if he was "okay" or not? She crossed her arms over her chest and stood on the other side of her brother, giving him a stern look. Dean just ignored her and answered Anna,

"Yeah, of course."

Melody knew he was lying. She opened her mouth to comment on how bad of a liar her brother was but couldn't. The wind outside gusted and the barn doors flew open, and in walked Uriel and Castiel. Everyone reacted quickly to their arrival. Sam and Dean flanked the girls, while Melody made sure Anna was standing at least somewhat behind her.

"Hello Anna." Castiel greeted her once he and his companion came to a stop several feet in front of them, "It's good to see you."

"How?" Sam spoke up, "How did you find us?" And that's when Melody realized something. She'd been walking around last night and hadn't even thought about wearing the little hex bag Ruby had made her. In fact, she distinctly remembered putting it…in the Impala.

Castiel didn't answer him, only flicked his eyes over at the oldest Winchester. Everyone stared at him and Sam let out a sharp breath, "Dean?"

"I'm sorry." he mumbled, glancing between his siblings and Anna. That's when Melody understood what he was apologizing for. He'd destroyed the hex bags…

Melody let out a soft breath and stared up at her brother with sympathetic eyes. She knew he would do this, "Dean…"

"Why?" Sam asked headtedly. Dean didn't answer, only stared down at his sister and then at Anna. He really was so, so sorry for doing this. He just wished he knew how to better explain it to them.

Anna took in a sharp breath, "Because they gave him a choice." She answered Sam's question, "They either kill me…or kill you and your sister." Melody felt her heart stop. No…no this wasn't what she'd tried to get Cas to do last night. He knew—he knew the entire time he was speaking to her that this was going to be the angel's plan all along and he just let her get on her little soapbox. Melody felt all the little ounces of emotion towards Castiel disappear in a few quick, fleeting moments. No…now he'd lost everything she'd ever even begun to feel towards him.

"I know how their minds work." Anna finished, pouring just enough venom into her words to let the angels know how disgusted she was with them. She paused, took in a deep breath and glanced up at Dean. Melody couldn't even look at Castiel without feel pure anger towards him, so she just watched Anna give Dean a lingering, soft kiss. When she pulled back she nodded,

"You did the best you could. I forgive you." She looked at the angels, an air of determination setting around her as she stepped away from the Winchesters. "Okay. No more tricks. No more running. I'm ready."

Castiel watched her for a moment, "I'm sorry." He said, eyes creasing and crimping at the edges.

_No, you're not._ Melody thought mentally rolling her eyes. Anna seemed to read her mind and shook her head before saying, "No. You're not. Not really. You don't know the feeling."

"Still," Castiel said, "we have a history. It's just—"

"Orders are orders." Anna finished for him, "I know. Just make it quick."

Before Melody could begin to even brace herself for whatever the angels were going to do to Anna, she felt the air shift and immediately her senses were filled with a stale, deathly odor along with burning flesh.

"Don't you touch a hair on that poor girl's head." Everyone looked back to find Alastair standing at the opposite end of the barn flanked by two more demons and…Ruby. She was being held up by the arms, stomach covered in blood and seemed to be fighting back fatigue.

And that's when Melody realized that herself, her brothers and Anna were all literally in the middle of this conflict. They quickly skirted to the side as Uriel moved past them, not even glancing at them as he grumbled at the demons, "How dare you come in this room…you pussing sore."

Alastair's demon henchman threw Ruby away and she crawled to the side as Alastair scoffed, "Name-calling." He slowly closed the distance between him and Uriel, "That hurt my feelings. You sanctimonious, fanatical prick."

"Turn around and walk away now." Castiel ordered broodingly from his spot.

"Sure." Alastair shrugged, "Just give us the girl. We'll make sure she gets punished good and proper."

Castiel stared at him, an air of threat coming off of him, "You know who we are and what we will do." He slowly moved to stand next to Uriel, "I won't say it again. Leave now…or we lay you to waste."

Alastair regarded him, obviously not feeling threatened at all, "Think I'll take my chances."

And just like that—the fight began. Uriel ran at one of Alastair's henchmen shoving him into a support beam, snapping it nearly in half. They struggled, Uriel didn't even blink as he flipped around and punched henchman number two across the jaw sending the demon flying backwards.

Castiel walked briskly up to Alastair and punched him across the jaw several times before sending a solid uppercut into his chin. Before the demon could recover, Cas grabbed his shoulder and placed his free hand onto the demon's forehead.

"Sorry kiddo." Alastair grinned, "Why don't you go run to daddy?" And before Castiel could react, Alastair threw up his arms, breaking the angel's hold on him and then pulled the same move Cas had done to him. He threw an uppercut into Castiel's chin and the angel fell backwards, landing on his back. Alastair was on him quickly, and gripped his shirt and tie as he pulled Castiel's face up towards his own.

The demon tightened his hold on the angle's neck, "Potestas inferna, me confirma." He grinned wickedly, "Potestas inferna, me confirma. Potestas inferma, me confir—"

"Ah!" Melody cried out, feeling her powers consume her and she smacked Alastair across the face with a rusting pipe she'd found. She couldn't stand it anymore. Watching Castiel get beat down like that had stirred something inside her. A sort of…instinctual need and want to protect him had made her powers activate ten-fold.

Alastair fell back releasing his hold on Castiel and quickly standing. He rubbed his cheek, "Oh my, my…you've got yourself quite the girlfriend here Wings."

Melody moved to stand above Castiel, gripping the pipe in her hands and holding it out in a defenseive stance. Alastiar chuckled, "Look, she even protects you. How swee—"

_CLANG!_

The demon fell over a few steps, rubbing at his now sore temple. Dean gripped the crowbar in his hands, thankful he'd gotten Alastair's attention away from his sister. Only now…he had the demon's attention.

"Dean, Dean, Dean…" Alastair smirked, "I am so disappointed. You had such _promise_." He emphasized his last word with a solid back hand across Dean's jaw. Dean stumbled, felt the grip on his weapon loosen and fell back a few steps.

Melody wasn't focused on their fight. She was more concerned at the angel lying by her feet. She dropped her weapon and kneeled down next to Castiel, gently reaching out to touch his shoulder. "Holy shit…Cas are you alright?"

"I…"

"No!" They both glanced up and saw Anna had taken her grace which was hanging around Uriel's neck. She threw it to the ground and the tiny vial shattered, blue and white energy puffing out and then seeping up and into her open mouth. She grunted, fell over on all fours and convulsed before slowly getting back to her feet.

"Shut your eyes!" she called, light staring to travel up her stomach. "Shut your eyes!" she screamed again, now the light was climbing up her neck. "Shut your eyes!" she screeched, and the light poured completely out of every part of her body.

The light was terribly bright but Melody couldn't and didn't want to look away. She felt a strong hand grip her head and turn her face inwards towards a chest. She was immediately hit with a strong, crisp scent of rain and squinted her eyes closed gripping at the fabric of whoever's shirt she was pressed against and waited. Her heart raced, she felt a rush of warm and cold air fly through the room all at once and just as soon as it started…it was over.

Melody leaned up her head tentatively, and then froze. She saw a crisp white shirt, deep blue jacket and tan trench coat underneath her hands. Looking up she met the unwavering eyes of Castiel. He didn't seem to pick up on the fact that her heart began to ram against her chest or that she was watching him like a dear in headlights and instead slowly stood up, pulling her along with him.

Dean and Sam slowly joined the angels and their sister. The oldest looked at his sister who nearly ran at him, seeming to escape the angels and gripped his arm tightly. Dean, not wanting to know what had gotten his sister so shaken, moved her over to Sam who immediately moved to try and comfort her. He bent down and picked up the now discarded demon knife from the floor.

He stood back up, finding the angels watching himself and his siblings closely. "Well, what are you guys waiting for? Go get Anna…" Melody hardly heard her brother speaking. All she could do was stare at Castiel. The fact that he had protected her from Anna's light. And the fact that she had protected him from Alastair—strictly out of pure instinct—made her more than a little apprehensive. It was downright wrong.

"Unless of course," Dean continued, "you're scared."

"This isn't over." Uriel snarled taking a step towards the oldest Winchester but was stopped by the firm hand of Castiel on his shoulder, holding him back.

"Oh it looks over to me junkless." Dean grumbled, feeling a good amount of triumph at Uriel's angry face.

Melody watched Cas for as long as she could…and before he disappeared from her sight…he sent her a fleeting, almost longing and empathetic glance. And then they were gone. Just like that.

Ruby came out of her little spot in the corner, limping. "You okay?" Sam asked her.

"Not so much." She groaned. Dean put the demon knife into his pocket,

"What took you so long to get here?"

"Sorry I'm late with the demon delivery." Ruby said sarcastically, "I was only being tortured."

"I got to hand it to you Sammy." Melody said, breathing a bit heavy and trying to distract herself from all of the strange emotions running through her head, "Bringing them all together all at once—angels and demons. It was a good plan."

Sam shrugged at her, "Yeah well, when you got Godzilla and Mothra on your ass, best to get out of their way and let them fight."

"Yeah, now you're just bragging." Dean chuckled. He did notice that his sister seemed very shaken. More so than he would think she'd be after a fight like that. He decided to ignore it for now, and instead glanced at his brother who sighed,

"So, I guess she's some big-time angle now, huh?" Sam flicked his eyes upwards, "She must be happy…wherever she is."

Melody saw her older brother's small grimace, shared a quick look with him and saw that they were both thinking the same thing. Dean sucked in a quick breath, "I doubt it."

* * *

"Can't believe we made it out of there." Dean commented feeling his sister shrug next to him. Himself and his siblings were all sitting on the hood of his baby. Well Dean was leaning against it; Sam and Melody were sitting on top. Each had a beer in their hands, though Melody hardly sipped at hers.

Sam scoffed, "Again." They all clinked their beer bottles together, taking sips from the amber liquid. Melody leaned back, crossed her legs over each other and sat more fully on the hood of the Impala. She idly played with her beer bottle, not really wanting to drink at the moment.

"I know you heard him." Dean said, breaking the tiny silence that had fallen between them.

"Who?" Melody asked glancing up at her brother.

"Alastair." Dean answered, "What he said…about how I had promise."

Melody just nodded, Sam had told her about it. She hadn't heard—she'd been preoccupied during the time checking on a certain angel. "We heard him." Sam said, glancing back at his sister who nodded.

"You're not curious?" Dean asked glancing between them. Melody sighed,

"Dean, you know we are…"

"Yeah, damn curious. But you're not talking about Hell, and we're not pushing." Sam answered watching his brother nod and take another gulp of his beer. The Winchesters fell into silence, the youngest and his sister thinking that that would be the end of it. They had both agreed to not ask Dean about Hell and to only talk about it when he brought it up. They were content to just let it be…but their older brother was planning otherwise.

"It wasn't four months, you know." He said, staring at a tiny speck in the pavement. He heard Melody shift and saw her dangle her legs over the side of the hood sitting closer to him as Sam asked for clarity. Dean wasn't happy to oblige, but he'd opened this can of worms…might as well finish. "It was four months up here, but down there…I don't know time's different. It was more like forty years."

Melody set her beer bottle behind her, "Jesus…" she mumbled realizing just how long her brother had to suffer.

Dean continued, "They uh…they sliced and carved and tore at me in ways that you…" he shook his head, memories flashing through his mind. He licked his lips, steeling himself before resuming, "…until there was nothing left. And then suddenly…I would be whole again…like magic…just so they could start in all over. And Alastair—at the end of every day—every one…he would come over. And he would make me an offer to take me off the rack…if I put souls on…if I started the torturing."

He couldn't bring himself to even glance at his brother and sister. Feeling the cold, resignated fear climb up and out of his stomach, Dean persisted and endured, knowing he was getting to the worst part. "And every day, I told him to stick it where the sun shines. For thirty years I told him."

He felt his throat close up and his voice quivered, "But then I couldn't do it anymore, Sammy. Mels I couldn't. And I got off that rack, God help me, I got right off it, and I started ripping them apart. I lost count of how many souls."

Melody saw the tears fall out of his eyes, watched as his mouth quivered with the effort he was using to hold back his sobs. She felt a few tears of her own form in her eyes as her big brother continued,

"The—the things I did to them." Melody slowly reached out and rubbed his back as gently as she could manage. She didn't know what to do or what to say. So instead of her, Sam tried out saying something hoping he could make his brother feel better,

"Dean, look, you held out for thirty years. That's longer than anyone would have."

Melody watched her brother grimace and fight back his tears, but they just persisted and kept flowing. Dean sucked in a quick breath, face scrunching up with the effort and sniffled before rubbing a hand down his face. "How I feel…" he began, "this…inside me…"

His voice shook and broke, "I wish I couldn't feel anything. I wish I couldn't feel a damn thing."

She'd heard enough. Feeling a number of tears pool at the edges of her own eyes, Melody turned to face her older brother and pulled him towards her. Dean didn't protest or fight back, only let out a shaking sob before burying his face into his baby sister's shoulder. She let him cry into her jacket and felt Dean wrap his arms around her, gripping tightly at the leather of her jacket. "Just let it out okay?" Melody said gently rubbing his back, sniffling, "Don't worry about trying to look manly. Just let it all out."

As if her words were an invitation, Dean seemed to grip her tighter and a loud, blubbering sob escaped his throat. Melody grit her teeth, fighting back her own tears and squinting her eyes shut for a moment, hoping that she wouldn't break down and sob along with her brother. Dean's shoulders shook violently and she could feel his whole body trembling as it was wracked with sob after sob. Sam came around then, standing behind Dean and putting an arm around his brother's shoulders.

This just seemed to get Dean even more emotional, and another wave of wailing cries came out of his mouth. Melody reached up and ran her fingers through his short hair, and at the base of his neck, remembering how he once said their mother would do that to him when he was younger. "We're right here Dean." Sam mumbled wrapping his arm around Dean tighter.

"We aren't going anywhere alright?" Melody said to him. She sniffled and started to quietly sing a song—one she hadn't heard or even sung herself in several months. But the words came to her easily and flowed from her mouth smoothly,

"When the night has come…and the land is dark," she rubbed circles into Dean's back, "and the moon is the only light we'll see. No I won't, be afraid. Oh I won't, be afraid. Just as long as you stand…stand by me."

* * *

_Ughhh Dean Winchester you're making me feel all of my feels! Seriously, every time I watch that scene from that episode, I get chocked up. Jensen Ackles had the prettiest cryface ever btw. AND I got teary eyed writing this little scene too! My feels! They hurt so good!_

_Ok...ok i'm done...I'll just go curl up in my bed now..._

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading! _


	36. Doubts

**Helloooooo my loves! Did you all miss me? No...? Maybe...? Well I missed you guys! Anyways, did anyone see the new season 9 promo with Crowley and Castiel? Can I just say that I was strangely attracted to Crowley's voice? I mean...damn...**

**Ehem, besides that, I finally finished up this little chapter for you all. And let me tell you I am getting so excited because...Cas is starting to have doubts! Woo! We're getting one step closer to this delicious scene I have scribbled down and it is a hot one. Like sizzling, smoking hot. Okay, I'll stop talking. Thank you for all the new favs and follows guys! For you newcomers and for those who have any questions, head on over to my tumblr page and ask away. Anonymous questions are allowed, don't be shy, I won't bit I promise!**

* * *

_December 19, 2008_

_Okay, finally…after months of Dean hitting cases back to back to back…finally we've slowed down. Ever since Dean told us about Hell and the things he did, it's like he's been working his ass off to try and forget everything. And as much as I can (try) to see where he's coming from, seriously we just all need a few days break. I mean, this last job that we just finished up we had to deal with sirens. They only prey on men so I wasn't a target but my brothers certainly were. And…the damn siren got my brothers so focused on how much they were supposed to "hate" each other that they did not even notice when I went missing! Yeah, their sister goes missing about half way through the case—right after we ran into that FBI agent Nick. See he was the siren and already had his spell working on Dean by the time he kidnapped me. Locked me in this old, smelly basement. The siren was all "you're a female, and a strong one—I do not wish to harm you blah, blah, blah" anyways after Sam and Dean nearly killed each other because of that ugly ass siren they finally got their shit together and saved me. Bobby had to come in to save my brothers from themselves, they nearly killed each other. And afterwards Dean and Sam gave each other a very awkward apology—then tried to give me one. Morons. I might as well try and get some sleep. Knowing Dean we're going to hit the road first thing tomorrow…_

* * *

Melody felt her heart racing and pounding against her chest. She held on to Dean's arm tighter as he led them down the dark, cold alley. "Where the hell is he? Where is Sam?" she whispered harshly looking around everywhere for a sign of her little brother. They had been dealing with one of their more interesting cases. They had been informed by Bobby about a town filled with people who should be dead but weren't dying. They figured it was another of the sixty-six seals and headed over as quickly as possible. Melody and her brothers had tried to contact the last person who had died in the town—a kid, Cole Griffith. When they first tried, Alastair had appeared, attacking Dean and Melody but Sam was unaffected by his powers. Instead, Sam was able to throw Alastair out of his body and send him away. When Dean and his sister asked their little brother about how or why his powers seemed to suddenly triple in strength, Sam just shrugged and said he had no idea. But, Dean and Melody both knew he was lying and they were equally hurt by it.

Later after their encounter in the graveyard, Dean suggested that they actually become spirits and project themselves on to the astral plane. Pamela Barnes helped them and sent the Winchesters across the veil where they found and met Cole, learning tips and tricks on how to move and teleport themselves as spirits. They also met the reaper Tessa—the very reaper who was assigned to take Dean several years prior when they had all been in the car accident with their father. Unfortunately, Tessa was taken by the very demon Alastair. The Winchesters were able to track her down to a funeral home covered in sigils in what Sam coined as "demon invisible ink".

As they entered, they had found two reapers at the center of the room surrounded by a large sigil. The Winchesters were not able to save them, getting trapped outside of the room by an iron chain. Alastair appeared to them again—this time in a new body—and Sam was unable to use his powers on the demon again. All three watched as Alastair killed off one reaper using Death's own scythe and he was about to kill off Tessa but, the Winchesters—using their new ghost skills—were able to drop a chandelier onto the sigil breaking it and releasing Tessa.

When they escaped the funeral home, Dean and Melody could not find their brother anywhere. They told Tessa to get to safety while they searched for him. They were coming up empty, and both Dean and Melody were starting to get more than a little worried.

Dean reached back, gripping his sister's arm as they rounded a corner—

"You can't run…Dean." Alastair stood a few feet away from them, scythe in his hands, grinning at them. Melody felt her brother push her further behind him, and she tried to power up. She wasn't sure if her powers would work on this plane, but hopefully they would do something.

Alastair glanced at her, "And you can't protect baby sis either." He took a step towards them, "Not from me. See I'm inside that angst-y little noggin of yours. And when I get through with you—me and little sister are going to have some…real fun times."

Dean started to push them back as Alastair slowly advanced on them, menacing smile growing wider and wider with each step. Before he could get another foot towards them, Melody heard a loud crashing sound. She glanced up, saw lighting streak and pierce down out of the sky while thunder boomed and roared from the clouds.

The Winchesters reacted, covering their faces as the light burned brightly in front of them. When they looked back up—Alastair was gone. "Jesus…" Melody mumbled seeing a large, black scar on the pavement where the demon had just been standing.

"What the hell?" Dean panted.

"Guess again."

Melody and her brother whipped around to find Castiel standing just behind them. Melody couldn't help it. She felt a tiny grin creep onto her face. They hadn't seen the angel in over a month, and they'd been so busy, Melody hardly had time to even think about him. But now that she was looking at him again…she couldn't help but feel a little bit happy. Why? Melody had no idea. And at a time like this she wasn't going to question something like that. Later though, when she was alone or writing in her journal…she'd ponder over why she'd felt so relieved to see Cas standing there in front of them. And she still wouldn't have any clue as to why. No…she wouldn't know that answer for a few more years.

So instead of questioning that, she decided to ask the more obvious question, "Cas…what…what just happened?"

"What just happened?" he reiterated, looking her in the eye, "You and your brothers just saved a seal. We captured Alastair. Melody…Dean—this was a victory."

"Well, no thanks to you." Dean said, eyes rolling, shoulders slumping up in an annoyed shrug.

Castiel's brow creased, "What makes you say that?" Melody had to wonder that too. She thought her brother would be relieved or hell even a little happy that the angels were able to catch the demon.

"You were here the whole time?" she heard her brother ask and then she understood and could see why Dean would be a little annoyed if not a little pissed with the angels.

"Enough of it." Castiel answered, glancing at their surroundings. Melody rolled her eyes at him.

"Well jeez Cas thanks for your help with the rock salt." She thought back to when they were in the funeral home. Alastair had shot herself and her brothers in the chest with a round of rock salt. And damn did it hurt. It had felt like she was getting shot by real bullets and it had sent her mind whirling for a few seconds before she'd flickered back to standing next to her brothers.

"That script on the funeral home," Castiel began explaining, "we couldn't penetrate it."

Melody felt her grimace slowly fall and saw that her brother realized the same thing as her. "That was angel proofing." Dean said, slowly nodding and thinking back to the many different sigils they'd seen across the funeral home.

"Why do you think I recruited you three in the first place?" Castiel posed the question, looking between the Winchesters. Melody felt her mouth fall open as she gaped at him,

"Wait…are you saying that…"

"_You_ recruited _us_?" Dean finished for her. Castiel regarded them casually before answering,

"That wasn't your friend Bobby who called. It wasn't Bobby who told Sam about the seal."

Dean pointed at the angel, "That was you?" When Castiel nodded, a bit solemnly he heard Melody let out a sharp breath,

"Cas if you want out help, why didn't you just ask?"

"Because whatever I ask," Castiel replied—Melody thought he sounded a bit heated and slightly annoyed, "you seem to do the exact opposite."

Melody huffed, crossed her arms over her chest and gave the angel a challenging look "Oh okay feathers you really want to try and start something with—"

"Mels." Dean held up a hand stopping his sister from going on a rant. As much as he would appreciate watching his sister make Castiel as uncomfortable as possible—the angel had yet to feel the full effect of her temper—now was not the time. He looked back at his sister and gave her a warning look before looking at the angel, "So, what now, huh? The people in this town they just gonna start dying again?"

"Yes." Castiel answered simply.

"These are good people." Dean said trying to implore with the angel, "What, you think you can make a few exceptions?"

"To everything there is a season." Castiel replied and that only got an eye roll out of Melody. She huffed impatiently and eyed Cas with an air of pure annoyance. Before she could snap out a bitchy comment, Dean spoke over her, knowing full well his sister was certainly in the mood for a tirade and the angel in front of her was her target.

"You made an exception for me." Dean said, again sending a small warning look to his sister telling her with his eyes to "shut the hell up".

There was a pause; Cas watched his shoes for a long moment, taking in everything the Winchesters had been saying to him. He looked back up at them, gently reached out and took Melody's hand—not seeing her freeze and tense up—and stared at the oldest. "You're different." He stated before fluttering off with Melody in tow.

* * *

When Melody had woken up in the motel room, shooting up straight and gasping for air, she'd still felt Castiel's warm hand in hers. Why he'd taken her away back to her body, she didn't really know. Maybe he thought Dean needed some alone time? Dean had told his brother and sister about him helping Tessa help Cole move on. But…maybe Cas did that so Pam didn't have to bring back two more people from the other side. She was seconds away from dying by the time she brought back Dean. She whispered her last words into Sam's ear, telling him she knew everything—_could feel everything inside of him_—and that despite his good intentions, it was leading him down a dark and dangerous road. She coughed up the last bit of blood and air from her lungs, feeling Melody Winchester's long fingers grip her hand tightly…and slowly drifted away from them.

* * *

"Ruby will meet us outside Cheyenne." Sam said from the driver's seat. He felt his sister lean up from the back, stretching her arms and groaning as he continued, "She's been tracking some leads." He heard his brother and sister make equal sounds of distain, even glanced over to see them both share an eye roll.

"Look," Sam began trying to stay calm despite his growing impatience with them, "I know she's not exactly on your Christmas list, but if she can help us get to Lilith—"

"Man, work with Ruby, don't." Dean grumbled tiredly from the passenger seat, "I don't really give a rat's ass." Sam stared at him for a moment, looked at his sister posing the question silently to her and she shrugged and yawned,

"Yeah, do whatever Sam. I don't care."

The youngest felt his brow scrunch up, confusion and impatience coloring his features, "What's your problem?"

Dean and Melody glanced at each other, and their sister just sighed and sat back in her seat opting to let her oldest brother handle the answering instead. So she stretched out her body across the back seat, stared up at the roof and idly played with her necklace as she heard her big brother's voice,

"Pamela didn't want anything to do with this, and we dragged her back into it, Sam."

"She knew what was at stake." The youngest responded quickly. Melody reached up her hands and rubbed them down her face. She was most certainly not in the mood to listen to either of her brother's bitching. She could see both sides, and understood where both of her brothers were coming from. But as always, she was in the middle of them. By birth, by opinion…she was always in between Sam and Dean. And as much as she had liked being the middle child (sometimes) while growing up—dad not really relying on her, or not really fretting over her had led her to become a bit more independent than her brothers—she always hated it when it literally put her in the center of her brothers.

Dean huffed, "Oh yeah, saving the world. And we're doing such a damn good job of it." The oldest heard his sister let out a long sigh from the back. Sam paused, tried to implore with his older brother but he would not hear it and quickly cut the youngest off. "I'm tired of burying friends, Sam."

There was a small pause; all three Winchesters didn't speak for a while afraid that if they said something wrong, it would start an argument. And neither was in the mood for that right now. Sam chewed his lip for a second and tried to say as calmly and as gently as possible, "Look, if we catch a fresh trail—"

"We follow it." Dean finished, leaning against the passenger door, "I know." He blinked, closed his jacket a bit more and sighed, "Like I said I'm just…I'm getting tired…"

Melody seemed to lose her patience then. Fed up with her whiny ass brother, fed up with his shit attitude towards the freaking war they were in—she threw up her hands, shook them in the air for a half second and felt her chest puff out as she said, heatedly and impatiently,

"Well then get _angry_."

* * *

Sam opened up the door to their motel room, hearing his sister let out a loud yawn and Dean grumble, "Home crappy home." As all three tossed their bags down by the door, each too tired to put them in a proper place. Sam flipped on the room light—

"Winchester, Winchester…and Winchester." The siblings froze finding Uriel and Castiel standing in their room. Melody eyed Cas, felt her breath escape her lungs in one sharp, quick breath and hardly heard her oldest brother sigh,

"Oh come on." He groaned but Uriel just ignored him.

"You are needed." The angel announced to him. Cas was all but silent, standing a few feet behind and to his companion's left. He wasn't even facing them. And Melody wanted so badly for him to look at her. Just glance at her—let her know that he knew that she was standing there. But Melody quickly squashed those wants aside. She was being stupid. She was acting like a silly little girl with a silly little crush. Crush? Could it be called that? How her breath seemed to leave her lungs every time she saw him, or how every time she went to sleep, she wondered if he was thinking of her? The answer was most likely not. At least not in the way Melody would have wanted him to. Castiel was an angel. They don't have emotions like humans. And Cas would never even begin to feel what Melody was afraid she was feeling. It was just a dream—a stupid, stupid dream.

These thoughts ran through her head in less than half a second, she'd been having pretty much the exact same inner thoughts all day and had always come to the same conclusion. And as much as that seemed to depress her, she pushed it all aside and instead focused on the conversation in front of her. She felt her brow crease, confusion evident on her face while she stared at Uriel,

"Needed?" she asked him, seeking clarity. Her brother Dean however, wasn't so much looking for clarity but more…looking to tell these angels to basically shove it up their glowing asses.

"Seriously?" he scoffed, voice dipping into a growling, angry vibrato, "We just got back from needed!"

"Now, you mind your tone with me." Uriel warned him. Melody did not care to take heed to the warning, and instead let her powers come up for a second, flashed her eyes at Uriel and pointed a threatening finger at him,

"Don't." she said. One word yes, but it was filled with every promise she had that she would do everything her powers allowed. If she could so much as leave even just a tiny little mark, she'd be satisfied.

Dean got just as heated—if not more than his sister—and took a step towards Uriel, "No _you_ mind your damn tone with _us_."

And Sam, ever the peacemaker—and always a bit more level headed then his temperamental siblings—took a step forward, putting a firm hand on Dean's shoulder to hold him back and held out the other towards Uriel, "Look, we just got back from Pamela's funeral."

Melody stood next to Dean as he huffed, "Yeah, Pamela—you know, psychic Pamela? You remember her. Cas," he inclined his head to the other angel, "you remember her. You burned her eyes out. Remember that? Good times!"

That got Castiel's attention. He finally looked up from the floor towards the Winchesters, mouth tight, eyes steady. And again, Melody felt all of her breath whoosh out of her lungs, her heart pick up speed and her whole body go numb. _Dammit Melody_, she silently scolded herself, deliberately keeping her eyes off of Cas now and putting a cold scowl onto her face as she turned to watch Uriel. Dean continued,

"Yeah, then she died saving one of your precious seals. So maybe you can stop pushing us around like chess pieces for _five freakin minutes!_"

Uriel, with his hands in his pockets, stated casually, "We raised you out of hell for _our_ purposes."

"Yeah, and what were those again?" Dean questioned irritably, "What exactly do you want from me?"

"Start with gratitude." Uriel's usual calm voice, sounded to Melody like he was slowly losing control. And he probably was literally on the line and about to cross over it when Dean and Melody both scoffed. The oldest smiled sarcastically giving a silent "oh" of understanding while Melody just rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Dean, we know this is difficult to understand." Castiel spoke for the first time since they had walked into the room. But before he could elaborate, Uriel added in quickly,

"And we…" he looked back at Cas as if he was warning him not to speak anymore before looking back at the Winchesters, "don't…care." Melody saw Castiel move back to standing stiffly in front of the wall, eyes aimed straight ahead not really looking at anything. So…is there a power struggle she was witnessing here? Or something else?

"Now," Uriel began, "seven angels have been murdered—all of them from our garrison. The last one was killed tonight."

"Demons?" The oldest asked, feeling his brother and sister flank him. Uriel nodded giving him a silent "yes". Melody felt her brown scrunch up,

"How are they doing it?" she wondered aloud. She figured angels weren't entirely immortal…but could a demon really kill an angel? Sure Alastair had nearly knocked Castiel back to heaven several weeks back, but that didn't mean he could _kill_ him…could it?

"We don't know." Uriel answered her, the tension in the room finally dissipating—if not for a moment.

"I'm sorry," Sam spoke up waving his hands around, "but what do you want us to do about it? I mean, the demon with the juice to ice angels has to be out of our league, right?"

"We can handle the demons, thank you very much." Uriel sounded annoyed again.

"Once we find whoever it is." Castiel finished the statement his companion had begun saying, shooting his eyes towards Melody for a half second before looking away again. And Melody inwardly scolded herself again. He wasn't looking at her because he wanted to…he was looking at her because he had to.

Dean silently pushed past his sister, "So, you need our help…hunting a demon?" Melody now stood in between her brothers as the oldest leaned his hands down to rest on the small, rickety table in the room.

Castiel stepped towards them, moving to be next to Uriel and joining the conversation fully as he answered, "Not quite. We have Alastair."

"Great." Dean shrugged, "He should be able to name your triggerman."

"But," Castiel stopped him, "he won't talk. Alastair's will is very strong. We've arrived at an impasse."

"Yeah well, he's like a black belt in torture." Dean stated, "I mean, you guys are out of your league."

"That's why we've come to his student." Uriel stared straight at Dean, "You happen to be the most qualified interrogator we've got."

Melody slowly shook her head, reaching out and placing a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder. "No…" she tried to say but Castiel spoke over her,

"Dean…you're our best hope."

The oldest, who had been staring down at the table, slowly lifted his eyes back up, "No—no way. You can't ask me to do this Cas—not this."

"Castiel please," Melody implored with him, squeezing her brother's shoulder. Uriel grinned at her and her older brother before stepping up and leaning down on his hands, mirroring Dean, on the other side of the table,

"Who said anything…about asking?"

And before Sam could blink let alone ask what Uriel had meant…the angels had disappeared along with his brother and sister. The youngest stared at the spot where his siblings had just been standing, felt his fists clench, jaw tighten and breathed harshly through his nose before he let out a sharp growl,

_"Dammit!"_

* * *

By the time Melody registered exactly what Uriel had been saying, she noticed that her surroundings had changed drastically. She no longer stood in a warm motel room. Now she was standing in a dark, cold and decrepit warehouse. She still had a hold on Dean's shoulder and unconsciously squeezed him, afraid that if she let go she would be lost or hurt. Dean looked up at her, equally as shocked. Where the hell were they?

That's when they heard a slow, deep chuckle a few feet in front of them. The Winchesters glanced over to find Uriel standing in the middle of the low-lit room, hands in his pockets. Castiel was right next to him, expression a bit more guarded than his companions.

Before long, the angels had showed the hunters where they were keeping Alastair. They had the demon chained up to an iron five-pointed star. Bright white sigil etched onto the floor underneath and surrounding the demon. Dean and Melody stared at him through the foggy, dirty window attached to the door leading into the room.

"This devil's trap is old Enochian." Castiel's deep, smooth voice explained from behind them, "He's bound completely."

Melody felt her jaw clench. No, no way were they going to make her brother do this. She gently reached out and touched Dean's arm, and thankfully he felt the exact same way. Taking her touch as a sign that said _get us the hell out of here now please_, he nodded once,

"Fascinating." He gripped his sister's forearm and turned around pulling her with him as he moved away from the room, "Where's the door?"

"Where are you going?" They heard Castiel ask them. The angel turned to watch them both walk away and heard Dean grumble,

"Hitch back to Cheyenne, thank you very much." They only got a few more steps, before Uriel appeared in front of them—effectively stopping them both in their tracks.

"Angels are dying, kids."

"Well boo-freaking-hoo." Melody huffed while Dean gently moved her to stand behind him. He rolled his eyes at Uriel before saying,

"Newsflash jerkoff, everybody's dying these days. And hey I get it. You're all-powerful. You can make me do whatever you want, but you can't make me do this."

"This is too much to ask. I know." Castiel said moving away from the locked room towards the Winchesters. He stopped just a few feet in front of them, "But we have to ask it."

"Why?" Melody felt her temper rise as she stepped away from her brother towards the angel, "Because you were ordered to? You're just falling in line and doing something—making my brother do something—that is completely twisted and messed up on so many different levels that—"

Dean shot out a hand, resting it on his sister's shoulder and giving it a hard squeeze. She stopped moving, her heated words coming to a halt as well. Her chest puffed up and out as she breathed heavily, trying to reign in her anger. Finally, after a long pause, Dean was sure his sister wouldn't say anything else so he looked back at Uriel,

"I want to talk to my sister and Cas alone."

Uriel watched him for a moment, eyes never wavering. He glanced over Dean and Melody towards his companion, "I think I'll go seek…revelation. We might have some further orders."

"Well get some doughnuts while you're out." Melody heard her brother snip sarcastically at Uriel. But she wasn't focused on them. She was giving her best death glare to Castiel. She was just so damn angry at him. Didn't he know what this would do to Dean? Didn't he understand how absolutely horrible and completely idiotic these "orders" of his were?

She heard Uriel chuckle darkly, "Ah, this one just won't quit, will he? I think I'm starting to like you, boy." There was a sound of wings flapping against air, and Uriel was gone.

When he was gone, Dean sighed and looked back to find his sister staring daggers at Castiel. And the angel was so ignorant, or so smart, that he was completely ignoring her deadly gaze. Dean had to admire that for a moment. He could never look away or escape that look. No matter how hard he'd tried in the past, he was never strong enough to escape it.

So he decided to try and diffuse his sister's obvious tension with a quick jab, "You guys need to walk more, you're gonna get flabby." Luckily that worked a little. Dean saw his sister's brown crease slightly as she moved her eyes away from Cas and towards him.

"Seriously?" she muttered under her breath at him. Dean just shrugged, noticing that Castiel hadn't reacted at all to the joke.

"You know," Dean shrugged, "I'm starting to think junkless has a better sense of humor than you do."

"Uriel's the funniest angel in the garrison." Cas stated, dead-serious, "Ask anyone." All Melody could do to respond to that was raise her right brow at him. Again she muttered the same "seriously"—mostly to herself. She glanced at her brother, who just shook off the comment and instead took a step towards the angel,

"What's going on Cas?" Dean posed the obvious question and felt his sister catch on. She moved to stand beside him and asked,

"Yeah, since when does tall, dark and creepy put a leash on you anyways?"

"My superiors have begun to question my sympathies." Castiel began explaining.

"Sympathies?" Dean sought clarity, and Melody wondered what he meant as well. She crossed her arms over her chest as the angel continued,

"I was getting too close to the humans in my charge. You, Sam and…Melody." His cobalt eyes landed on her and Melody scowled as she felt that stupid tingling/numb sensation build up and out of her stomach. Cas didn't seem to notice her slight change in body language as he resumed his explanation,

"They feel I've begun to express emotions, the doorways to doubt. This can impair my judgment."

He moved to face away from them, leaning back to rest on a long, metal table that sat in the room. Melody couldn't help it. She felt that damn tingle in her stomach and then—God help her—a tiny little sliver of hope. Why hope? Because if Cas was beginning to express emotions, and he's getting too close to the human's in his charge…did that mean what she wanted it to mean? Did he feel or was he beginning to feel, what she'd been fighting in herself all this time?

Dean's movements brought her out of her inner thoughts as he started to pace, "Well, tell Uriel or whoever…" he stopped and stared at the door leading to the room where Alastair was chained up, "you do not want me doing this, trust me."

"_Want_ it? No." Castiel said, "But I've been told we need it."

"Need it?" Melody asked him incredulously before throwing out her arms, "Who the hell _needs_ him to do this? Who gave you this shit-for-brained order?" She all but demanded an answer from him, voice rising in both fear and anger. Anger, because this was not what she'd expect a heavenly order to be. Fear because…well…Dean's next words pretty much summed it up for her.

"You ask me to open that door and walk through it…" Dean said, voice trembling, "you will not like what walks back out."

"For what it's worth…I would give anything not to have you do this." Castiel's reply was simple in its tone. But…there was an ounce of sincerity to it.

And as much as Melody begged the angel and yelled and screamed and argued…he would not budge and neither would her brother. So with a heavy heart, she watched Dean gather his needed materials onto a cart and slowly wheel it into the room with Alastair. As the heavy metal door shut behind Dean, Melody reached up and gripped her head.

She turned and paced, feeling Castiel's eyes on her and she began to idly scratch at her scalp. She grumbled under her breath, words Castiel could not understand as she paced back and forth in front of him. Finally she stopped, huffed and then threw down her arms at her sides,

"Fuck!" she shouted. Castiel watched her curiously. He'd seen her angry before but never like this. This wasn't a wrathful anger though. This was the type of anger that was stemmed from worry. She was worried and afraid. And for a moment, Castiel wished he could do something to help her. But he had no idea how or where to begin. So he just let her seethe on her own and gently leaned against the table again. Before long, they could both hear Alastair's screams of pain.

That's when she snapped. Melody turned on Castiel, walking up to him and invading his space. She poked him hard in the chest, though he didn't move an inch. "Tell me right now who gave you this order."

"Melody I—"

"You know what? No, don't actually. I'd rather not hear the same bullshit answer from you." She fumed, breathed hard through her nose and stared down at her boots. "You know this isn't right."

"No…but it needs to be done." He answered staring down at her, watching a few pieces of her gold hair fall off her shoulders. She reached up, ran a hand through the thick mass of blonde locks, pushing it all to one side.

"There's got to be another way. I mean, isn't there like an angel who is a…super detective or something?" Melody asked, arms crossing over her stomach as she stared up at him, eyes conveying her nervous fears.

"We have tried to investigate ourselves. Nothing came up. This is the only way Melody—"

"Don't say that!" she cried, reaching up to grip at her ears when more of Alastair's pained screams echoed from the room. It wasn't that she didn't mind the demon getting tortured. Hell no. It was the fact that it was her brother causing the pain…but in so doing, Dean would have to relive everything from Hell.

Melody stared up at him, "Cas…please…" she was now reduced to begging the angel to make it stop. They could find out who was killing the angels another way. Not like this. Not like this. When the angel didn't answer her, only stared over her shoulder at the door she growled, released the hold she'd been keeping on her powers and reached out gripping at the lapels of his trench coat.

She held the fabric in her fingers tightly and gave him a good shake, eyes glimmering at him in the dim room. "Dammit Castiel! There's always another way! Do you understand?! There's always a second option!"

By now her powers had dissipated, eyes returning to their normal bright green/hazel color. She took in a shaking breath; chin quivering as she slowly bowed her head to his chest. For a moment, Castiel was confused. Then he realized that normally when a human female laid her head against someone, they were seeking comfort. He didn't know what to do. And as Melody gently placed her forehead to rest just over where the vessel's heart laid…he froze.

Melody kept her tight grip on his trench coat, laid her head against his chest and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She couldn't handle this. She couldn't think about how Dean was torturing himself in that stupid room all for these stupid angels and their stupid war. A war she and her brothers had inadvertently started. A war she was bound to be a part of…no matter how much she kicked and screamed about it.

And before Castiel could even begin to try and comfort the small human girl leaning against him, before his hand that was slowly being raised could come down to rest against her back…she pushed away from him and walked away to the other side of the room. He watched her leave, watched her come to a slow halt by the furthest wall and stand right in front of it.

Melody faced the wall, covering her quivering mouth with one hand, and kept the other placed against her hip. She wouldn't let Castiel see her like this. Hell she didn't even want to be acting like this. She barely flinched a few minutes later when she heard the lights burst, and merely glanced at Anna. Melody was in no mood for more angels, so she turned her back to them and shut herself out of their echoing conversation.

"You shouldn't be here." Castiel said to his former companion, glancing over to see Melody still facing the far wall, head slightly bowed. "We still have orders to kill you."

"Somehow, I don't think you'll try." Anna commented moving to stand next to him and the long table he'd been leaning against, "Where's Uriel?"

"He went to receive revelation." Castiel answered her, sending another quick glance towards Melody before looking back at the door leading to Dean and Alastair. Anna didn't miss the quick, slightly worried look she saw on Castiel's face when he checked on the Winchester girl for the second time she'd been in the room.

Anna turned back to Cas, "Why are you letting Dean do this? Why is Melody being made to suffer and watch?" Again, she saw him shoot a slightly pained and guarded look towards the blonde hunter before answering,

"She was to be used as leverage if Dean did not cooperate. Fortunately…he did. As to why I'm letting him to this?" Castiel reiterated the question before turning away and pacing—uncouniously mimicking what he'd seen Melody do a few minutes ago—and answered, "He's doing God's work."

"Torturing?" Anna asked, unbelieving, "That's God's work?" Castiel stopped his pacing. Melody had said basically the same thing to him. Where they both wrong? Or was he?

"Stop him Cas, please." Anna implored, "Before you ruin the one real weapon you have…and lose her."

Castiel ignored that last bit. He didn't truly understand what Anna meant by that and instead slowly turned to face her again, "Who are we to question the will of God?"

"Unless…this isn't his will."

"Then where do the orders come from?" Castiel queried, moving to stand in front of the long table again.

"I don't know." Anna's shoulders moved upwards in a barely perceptible shrug, "One of our superiors maybe. But not him." She walked up to the table, leaning down to meet eyes with him,

"The father you love…you think he wants this? You think he'd ask this of you? You think this is righteous?" She sat against the table now, turning her body towards him, "What you're feeling…it's called doubt."

They heard Alastair let out a loud, spluttering moan. Castiel couldn't help it; he looked at Melody again and saw her shoulders tense as she reached up to cover her ears again. And again, Anna did not miss the longing gaze Castiel sent towards Melody.

"That right there…is something entirely different. One of the most complicated, terrible and wonderful emotions a human is blessed with." Cas merely flicked his eyes over her before looking back at the door. He felt Anna's fingers graze over his hand on the table before she gently took hold of it,

"These orders are wrong, and you know it. But you can do the right thing." Anna caught his eyes again as he looked down at their hands and then back to her face. "You're afraid, Cas. I was too. But together we can—"

"Together?" Castiel looked at their hands, felt pure, raging disgust and quickly tore his hand away from her hold. "I am nothing like you." He growled in distain at her. "You fell. Go."

He walked around her, turning his back to her, effectively ending whatever it was she'd been trying to poison his mind with. He heard Anna stand from the table,

"Cas…" she tried, but he would not hear anything more from her. He turned around and stared at her, brooding and threatening,

"Go."

Anna stood in her spot for a moment longer, flicked her gaze towards Melody causing Castiel to look at the hunter too. Anna sighed, "Don't be ashamed of it Castiel. She looks at you the same way too."

With that, she flapped away, leaving Castiel to stand in the middle of the room, contemplating everything he'd just heard and just felt. What did Anna mean by that? Don't be ashamed of what? And what did Melody feel?

"Cas…?" he glanced up, saw Melody had slowly returned from the far side of the room. She had her arms crossed over her stomach, and her eyes looked slightly red and swollen.

"Are you alright?" he asked automatically. It was something she'd asked him before, and he assumed it was normal to ask that of someone else. Melody sniffled, quickly wiped at her eyes and rubbed her hands against her jeans.

"I just…I feel like something's wrong." She glanced around the dark warehouse and shrugged, "I can't put my finger on it but…I don't know it's like the air has changed or something."

Before she could get a response out of him, the angel turned and stared into the room for a half second and then disappeared from the room. "Cas?" Melody called running up to look into the room she froze, "Oh God no…"

* * *

_Ciffhanger! I know, I'm evil. Buuut...I need sleep. :D Don't worry though, I'm already several pages into the next chapter. Hopefully I'll have it up by Sunday night/Monday afternoonish. _

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	37. Just a Dream

**Ok um wow...this is my longest chapter yet. And...I had to stop it half way or it would have been too long! But I had so much fun writing S4 EP 17, "It's a Terrible Life" like...a lot of fun. It was always one of my more favorite stories. Annnd...hopefully next chapter we get to start on "The Monster at the End of his Book" Like...Chuck and freaky prophet stuff and MOAR CASTIEL! Oh and what do you all think of the pacing so far for Melody and Cas? I don't want it to get too too fast, there's definitely an intrigue on Melody's part but she hasn't like "fallen" for him yet...cough, cough, yet...**

**Anyways, that's it for now :D OH! Annd...as of right now, the theme for Melody/Cas is You by The Pretty Reckless. It is like...so perfect for them and describes their "relationship" as of right now perfectly! Gah! My feels!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody**

* * *

Melody burst through the door after Castiel and gaped in pure terror. Somehow, Alastair had gotten free from his chains and had been throwing blow after blow into Dean's face. The demon had let Dean fall over for a moment before bending down to pick the hunter up by the throat, turning around to shove Dean up against the iron star. Alastair sneered, lifted Dean up off the ground and chuckled darkly,

"You've got a lot to learn, boy. So I'll see you _back in class_, bright and early, Monday morning." Melody couldn't stand to watch another second. She barreled past Castiel, grabbing up the demon knife from her brother's cart and felt her powers activate. She snarled, gripping the knife tightly and running up to the demon. She grabbed his shoulder, turned him to face her and stabbed the knife deep into his chest. Alastair dropped Dean, tossing him aside before turning on Melody and back handing her across the face. She fell back several steps, stumbling and falling into a solid, warm chest. She looked back to find Castiel gripping her shoulders but he had his eyes placed firmly on the demon.

"Oh, almost." Alastair shrugged glancing down at the knife that was only a few inches above his heart. "Looks like God is on my side today." The demon grinned, staring up at the ceiling. Melody felt Castiel's hands pull her to the side. And with her shoulder pressed to his chest, and one of his hands holding onto her arm tightly, he moved his free hand upwards, aiming it at the knife. With his palm facing the demon, he made a twisting motion and Melody could see the knife slowly turning, mirroring Castiel's movements.

Alastair froze in his tracks, grimacing as the blade dug itself deeper and deeper into his shoulder. But he fought against it. And as Castiel slowly advanced on the demon, keeping his hand outstretched and twisting it back and forth, the demon was still able to overpower him. Alastair snarled, bit back his pain and took hold of the knife gritting his teeth as he slowly pulled the blade away from his chest.

When the knife clattered to the floor, and when there was the smallest of pauses between the angel and demon, all Melody could think were two words, "oh" and "crap". And before she could blink, let alone begin to formulate a plan of attack—Castiel shoved her away. Melody, surprised and not expecting the angel to be so damn strong, fell over, stumbled and crashed into the cart of various items, sending salt, holy water and other torture devices flying.

She slowly picked herself up, grumbling and moaning while she reached out and grabbed a half empty jug of holy water. It wouldn't kill Alastair, but it would certainly help. She turned around, hearing the demon snarl and scream and punches flying. Alastair roared, grabbed Castiel by the lapels of his trench coat and threw him back, shoving the angel upwards towards a support beam where a loose, large, rusting, ugly nail stuck out. Melody heard the crunch and rip of fabric and flesh and felt cold fear rise out of her stomach as she screamed,

"No!" She thought Castiel had been killed. He already had a bleeding wound at the top of his head, and red lines streaked down his face. Now she was sure, without a doubt that he had been killed. But, Melody wasn't thinking straight. She was afraid, she was running on pure adrenaline and her powers were fueling everything she did. So, she completely forgot for a moment that Castiel was an angel and that he was immortal, and only focused on the fact that she was watching him get hurt and beaten right in front of her—and she couldn't stand another second of it.

Her scream had gotten the attention of Alastair, he glanced over at her, only to feel water splash over his face. The holy water burned and ate away at his skin. The demon fell back, releasing the angel as he quickly reached up to wipe at his face. And as soon as he opened his eyes, he heard a loud, raging snarl and saw stars for a second.

Melody had tossed the rest of the holy water onto the demon, and he thankfully released Castiel, who was still hanging from the nail on the wall. She only glanced at the angel before pulling back her arms and smacking the demon across the jaw with the now empty jug. Luckily it was made of a sturdy plastic and that combined with her slightly heightened strength gave her the advantage for the moment.

Alastair fell back a few steps, blinking rapidly and when he opened his eyes he found the little blonde Winchester girl standing in front of the angel protectively. She had dropped the jug—it was terribly dented and rather useless now—and held up her fists in a defensive stance. The demon had to admire her heroism, and chuckled darkly,

"You know Melody; you are either very brave or very stupid." He grinned stepping up to her and reaching out a hand, intending to take hold of her own throat. But Melody had anticipated the movement and quickly ducked, avoiding his reach and as she came back up she threw a solid right hook across his cheek. Alastair's head whipped to the side, he hated to admit it but that actually hurt…_a lot_. Masking the pain, he spit out the blood that pooled into his mouth and looked back at her. This time, he didn't take any chances and when he tried the same move again and Melody avoided him again—he reached out his hand and gripped the air.

Melody froze, feeling a force tighten around her throat, cutting off her air piece by piece. She clawed at her neck trying to push and pull away at whatever was holding her, but the force only tightened. Alastair watched her choke and gag for a moment,

"You know," he said stepping up to her to get a closer look at her face, "you remind me of your father. I didn't like your father. He was…kind of an asshole." Melody looked around desperately for anything that would help her. Dean was unconscious on the floor; Castiel was literally hung up at the moment. _Shit, shit, shit!_

The demon stared down into her eyes, they'd returned to their normal color. He grinned and shot out his free arm, gripping Castiel around the neck, "Now, as much as I can admire standing up for someone you care about…I really don't give a damn. So, stand still—don't make a sound and let me finish this winged freak." He reached up, made a zipping motion in the air and Melody felt her mouth glue shut and the hold on her throat release. She tried to move, and only felt her feet rooted to the spot. She was only half a foot away from Cas and the demon. All she had to do was reach out her hands and she could touch Castiel's shoulder, but even her arms were frozen at her sides.

Alastair turned to Castiel, adjusting the angel on the nail as he gripped him around the neck to hold him up. Castiel tried to fight, but his vessel was growing weak now and he could only limply reach out and try to take hold of Alastair's throat as well. He only got the hand to reach the demon's shoulder. He glanced over at Melody. She was fighting, pushing and shoving against the invisible force that held her to her spot. She'd get her hands up a few inches before they were thrown back down again. It looked like she was nearly in tears as she stared helplessly at Castiel. And he felt that strange, longing sensation again. Only this time he was…regretful? Why would he be feeling regret? Because he wasn't strong enough to fight Alastair on his own? Or was it because the girl standing next to him was going to have to watch helplessly as the demon banished him to heaven? But she would be alright. So…why did—deep down—why didn't he want to leave her?

"You know…" Alastair began, grip tightening, "like roaches, you celestials." Castiel fought against the demon's strong hold. He wriggled, moved his arms and tried to pry himself away from Alastair's grasp. But he couldn't. All he could do was watch and struggle as Alastair continued,

"I really wish I knew how to kill you. But all I can do is send you back to Heaven." He raised his free hand and started to chant softly. Melody screamed against her closed mouth, pushed with everything she had against the hold on her and felt her arms move a few more inches than before. She could see Cas trying to fight. But he was struggling. His arms fell to his sides and his eyes went blank. Alastair's chants got louder and louder and Melody watched in slow growing fear as Castiel's mouth opened just slightly.

Bright blue light poured out of his mouth, she could see Cas trying to close it—trying to push himself back in, but it wasn't working. The angles eyes began to glow a bright blue, and more light escaped from them, illuminating Alastair's bloodied and beaten face. Melody screamed with her mouth closed, this wasn't happening, this wasn't going to happen! She wouldn't allow it. She couldn't lose him, not again. _Please God, let him stay_, Melody prayed silently to herself as she pushed and pushed.

And when she was about to start letting herself give up, when she was about to give in—she let out one last, loud scream against her mouth and—

"Ah!" She roared, surprised for a half second at the sound of her own voice. She felt the hold on her weaken and evaporate and saw Alastair start to grunt and choke on his words before he was tossed back and thrown against the brick wall. Melody didn't pay attention to him. All she could focus on was Castiel. She let out a shaking breath and quickly grabbed Cas by the arms, catching him as he fell limply against the support beam.

And when she glanced back to see who or what had saved them…she felt another wave of cold fear run out of her stomach. Sam, her little brother, was standing in the middle of the room; hand raised and palm facing the demon. _He_ was the one who'd saved her and Cas from Alastair…using his psychic powers. Melody gaped at him for a second, felt Castiel start to fall and quickly wrapped her arm around his waist and tossed one of his arms over her shoulders. She held him up easily and helped him lean back against the support beam. The angel shot her what looked like a grateful gaze before they returned their attention to the demon and Sam.

"Stupid pet tricks." Alastair grumbled from the wall. Sam kept his palm towards the demon,

"Who's murdering the angels?" he asked and Melody thought he looked different. Physically he looked different. It was either he stood taller, or his shoulders seemed wider…either way _something_ was different. "How are they doing it?"

Alastair chuckled, "You…you think I'm gonna tell you?"

Sam grinned, "Yeah, I do." He twisted his hand through the air, forming it into a claw. Melody saw Alastair's eyes roll back as he started to gag and choke. "How are the demons killing angels?!" Sam demanded an answer. Alastair leaned his head forward from the wall,

"I…" he chocked, "don't…know!"

"Right." Sam nodded and clenched his hand into a fist, turning it more and more. Melody was honestly a bit fearful of the display of power from her brother. She felt herself gently lean closer into Cas, and felt him instinctively grip her tighter.

"It's…not…us!" Alastair growled through his pain, "We're…not doing it!"

"I don't believe you." A vein could be seen throbbing against Sam's temple, but he wasn't struggling. In fact he seemed to be _enjoying_ this. Again, Melody felt cold fear and buried herself even deeper into the angel's side. She glanced up at him,

"Cas…how is he doing this?" she barely whispered, and only the angel heard her. He didn't answer, only did what he thought would comfort her. He squeezed her arm again, this time actually pulling her towards him. He wasn't sure if it would help, but it was all he could think to do.

Alastair grunted, "Argh…ugh…Lilith! She is not behind this. She wouldn't kill seven angels." He sneered, panted and continued, "She'd kill one-hundred…one-thousand." Sam pushed a bit more, than released his hold on the demon. Alastair gasped for air, leaning heavily against the wall. He stared at the youngest Winchester and rolled his eyes,

"Oh…go ahead. Send me back…if you can." He challenged, grinning all the while. Sam just nodded,

"I'm stronger than that now. Now I can kill." Sam missed the fearful gaze from his sister and the completely shocked one from the angel as he raised up his hand and closed his eyes, concentrating with everything he had. Melody felt her eyes widen when she saw Alastair shout and moan, throwing back his head as his skull flashed to light for a second. She felt the entire room quake as the demon grimaced and then screamed, mouth flying open as his entire skeleton flickered off and on.

Finally, after what felt to Melody like an eternity, Alastair fell to the ground, eyes opened up widely, mouth gaping. He looked like he'd died a painful and terrifying death. But the most terrifying part to Melody? The fact that her little brother hadn't broken a sweat…_once_.

* * *

Melody felt her leg pump up and down as she bounced it nervously. She sat in a chair next to her brother Dean as he laid in the hospital bed. He was stable, but…there was also the whole matter that she'd just watched her baby brother kill a demon _with his mind. _They hadn't talked about it. Honestly Melody didn't really want to talk about it. He'd saved Castiel and her and their brother. But…what the hell was so different about him? She watched Sam from across the bed trying to put her finger on whatever was different. Nothing…but there was something.

Before she could stare at her brother any longer, she saw a flash of beige and quickly stood up. Castiel stood in the doorway leading to the room, completely healed. Sam saw his sister move and followed where her eyes had landed. When he saw Cas, he felt his frustrations and fears boil up as him and his sister followed the angel out into the hall.

"Cas…" Melody breathed out her relief at seeing him alright. Before she could ask if he'd found anything or ask if he'd heard anything, Sam pushed past her,

"Get in there and heal him. Miracle—_now_." He more or less ordered, jerking his thumb back to the hospital room. Castiel solemnly shook his head,

"I can't—"

Sam wouldn't hear it. He shook his head, voice rising in pitch, "You and Uriel put him in there!"

Melody stepped forward, putting her hand on his arm feeling her mouth drop open, "Sam, you know that's not true."

"Dammit Mel it is and you just won't admit it. They put him in there…"

"No." Castiel tried to stop him but Sam was in a sour mood that night and more worked up than normal and threw out his arms,

"Because you can't keep a simple devil's trap together."

Melody felt her jaw clench, "Sam, stop it." He ignored her, yanking his arm out of her hold while Castiel defended himself,

"I don't know what happened that trap—" he sighed, stopping himself and for a moment, Melody didn't want him to stop. For a half second there, he sounded like he was expressing emotions towards them. Anger, frustration, regret. Everything she and her little brother were feeling at that exact moment. "It shouldn't have broken. I am sorry."

"This whole thing was pointless." Sam sneered, "You understand that? The demons aren't doing the hits. Something else is killing your soldiers."

Melody stared up at her brother. No…no way. Castiel was in equal denial. He shook his head, "Perhaps Alastair was lying."

"No. He wasn't." Sam deadpanned, glanced at his sister and then turned to storm back into their brother's room. Melody let out a sharp breath,

"Holy shit…" She glanced up at Cas, saw he was just as shocked as her. He stared at the floor for a long while, seeming to be unable to process what Sam had just said. And as Melody was starting to reach out her hand to try and get him back, he flicked his eyes up to her face.

"I must go…I need to…figure this out." He turned his back on her fully prepared to fly away but felt a set of long, slim fingers grip his shoulder.

"Cas wait just…hang on a sec." When he turned back to face her, she realized she had no idea why or what she was going to say. She didn't want him to go, that's why she'd stopped him. But…what does she do now?

Melody wringed her fingers together nervously, glanced down at her boots and then back up to him. His blue eyes reflecting the moonlight perfectly in the dim hallway. She shook off the giddy feeling bubbling out of her stomach. Now was not the time. "Look just…be careful alright?"

He stared at her, eyes crimping at the corners, "I do not understand the question."

And Melody couldn't help it. She let out a short, breathy laugh. Dammit, why did he have to make this so hard? She sighed and knew that what she was about to do…was probably going to be the dumbest thing she'd ever attempted before. So, instead of delaying the inevitable, she chewed her lip and walked up to him, quickly wrapping her arms around his neck in a swift, tight hug.

She felt Castiel freeze at her touch. Of course he would. He had no idea what to do in situations like this. Melody knew that this would probably happen and smiled despite her slight disappointment. Not wanting to torture the poor thing, she pulled away—not before placing a light, barely there kiss to his stubble covered cheek, "Just come back to me okay? If you get hurt or…lost or if you don't know what to do. Find me, and I'll help. Got it?"

Castiel simply nodded at her, "I will try…Melody." He answered plainly but it was enough for her. She smiled, stepped away and turned her back on him retreating back to join her brothers. She didn't see Castiel's confused stare as he reached up and touched his cheek where her lips had just grazed the skin. There was certainly something wrong with his vessel. The body was overheating now, and the collar of his shirt seemed too tight.

* * *

Dean blindly stared at the muted television on the wall. His brother had fallen asleep in one of the stiff chairs by the wall, his long legs stretched out with his head laid awkwardly against his shoulder. Dean glanced down and squeezed his right hand weakly. Melody had fallen asleep next to him, her head laid down on her arm on top of Dean's hospital bed. She moved in her sleep, rubbing her temple against her outstretched arm and squeezed her brother's hand back. Dean had woken up several minutes after his siblings had fallen asleep, and when he did wake up…he found his baby sister right next to him. It was probably the sweetest and cutest thing he'd ever woken up to. Sure he'd woken up next to some pretty hot girls in his day…but seeing that his siblings had not left him and that his sister wouldn't let go of him— even in her sleep—trumped all of Dean's one night stands in a heartbeat.

He tried to move but he felt so damn drained—so damn weak. Despite finding his sister next to him and his brother safe, he felt terribly miserable. He kept thinking back to his torture session with Alastair. All the things that piece of shit demon had said to him. All of the things Alastair had claimed he was going to do to his sister…it was sickening. And every time Alastair would even mutter his sister's name, he'd pour more salt and holy water down his throat, stab him a little bit harder and deeper with the knife…and take great pleasure in all of the sniveling groans of pain that poured out of the demon's mouth.

But, Dean felt his heart grow heavy. Why? Because of the last thing Alastair had said to him before he was freed. The demon's voice still echoed through his mind, "And it is written that the first seal shall be broken when a righteous man sheds blood in Hell. As he breaks, so shall it break."

It couldn't be true. It couldn't…it wasn't his fault. None of this could be put solely on him…

"Are you alright?" A low, smooth voice asked him. Dean looked over to his left, saw the angel Castiel sitting in one of the chairs by his bed with his head leaned back against the seat.

Dean stared at him for a moment, feeling all of his anger boil up but he couldn't do anything about it. He was weak, beaten and exhausted. So instead he turned his eyes away from the angel, glancing back down at his sister and watching her sleep, trying to take comfort in the fact that she was at least there. "No thanks to you." He grumbled his throat dry and not wanting to work properly.

Castiel didn't miss the angry tone in Dean's voice. But he didn't address it. In a way, Dean was right. It _was_ his fault that the trap had failed. He flicked his eyes around the room, saw Sam asleep underneath the wall mounted television and Melody asleep with her head resting on the bed. She was lying on one of her arms, using it as a pillow and had her other hand in Dean's.

And there was that strange little feeling in the pit of his stomach again. But it wasn't a bad feeling. No, if Castiel had to guess…it was possibly…relief? Could it be? Castiel knew he had been thinking of Melody while he was gone. But he was mostly thinking of the quick hug and her even quicker kiss. She'd asked him to be careful. So that meant that she was worried about him. She'd told him to find her if he was ever in trouble. So that meant that she cared about him. Right? Castiel could understand why. He was slowly beginning to care about the Winchesters too. Despite how wrong all of his brothers and sisters claimed it to be. But it felt so natural. Like he felt for his brothers and sisters. He would feel sorrow if one of them were hurt, and was always happy when he'd been around them.

But when he looked at Melody Winchester, it felt so much more different. Like nothing he'd ever felt before. He'd tried to ask Anna what it meant, but Anna had just smiled at him before disappearing. He had so many questions…and he had no idea who to ask. Should he ask Melody? Would she know what it meant? Probably yes. But when would he do that? She was always with her brothers, and Castiel felt that this would be a private matter. At least…he thought it would. His instincts told him it would.

He remembered before when he was about to fight his brother Uriel, how the angel had blasphemed. Uriel had called the humans ugly and a mistake. He said that they shouldn't be bowing to them. That the humans should be bowing to angels instead. But when Castiel looked at the Winchesters, when he looked at Melody, he didn't see mistakes and he didn't see anything ugly. He saw humans that he was slowly beginning to enjoy. And that frightened and excited him all at once.

Castiel sighed, watched the oldest Winchester gently squeeze Melody's hand before looking away and finding a spot on the ceiling to stare at. He leaned his head up, watching Dean carefully, knowing what he was about to say would probably anger Dean even more.

"You need to be more careful."

"You need to learn how to manage a damn devil's trap." Dean snipped back at him. Despite his condition, Dean still had that sharp tongue of his. Castiel had noticed that Melody and Dean shared that trait. And the temper. But it wasn't something Cas could dwell on at the moment. He put his eyes on Dean's face now, watching the hunter as he said gently,

"That's not what I mean." He took in a breath, "Uriel is dead."

"Was it demons?" Dean asked, but Castiel shook his head looking away from his face,

"It was disobedience. He was working against us."

Dean took a moment to process that information. So…he'd been right all along about junkless. Or as his sister liked to call him, "tall, dark and creepy". Well at least he wouldn't have to deal with that waste of space anymore. And then Dean felt his thoughts going back to Alastair and the things the demon had said. Dean sucked in a breath and glanced back up at the angel,

"Is it true? Did I break the first seal? Did I start all this?"

Castiel didn't hesitate, only paused to nod slowly, "Yes." He answered seeing Dean's face contort and wrinkle as he seemed to be fighting back his emotions. Castiel continued, "When we discovered Lilith's plan for you…we laid siege to Hell, and we fought our way to get to you before you—"

"Jump-started the apocalypse." Dean finished for him, staring off and away, his eyes not seeing anything at the moment. His whole body felt numb, all he could feel was his little sister's fingers in his hand. And he squeezed them tightly, using them as his anchor. But it wasn't helping. He needed her and Sam to be awake. He needed them _right_ _now_. But they were out cold, and Dean was left alone with his bubbling emotions and a cold angel for comfort.

"But we were too late." Castiel completed his explanation, knowing that that wasn't what Dean had wanted to hear. But there was nothing he could do to change that.

"Why didn't you just leave me there, then?" Dean asked, nearly growling from frustration and deep sorrow, but he was too beaten and too tired to raise his voice. God, he needed his brother and sister now. He hoped by some miracle they would wake up. Something would fall over; Castiel would speak a little too loudly—something. _Please Mels…please, please, please wake up._

Castiel saw that Dean was struggling with the information. He leaned his head back and picked his words carefully, "It's not…blame that falls on you, Dean. It's fate." Castiel glanced over, saw Dean's chin quivering as the man fought and fought against his tears. The angel leaned forward in his seat, repeating the same words that had been grilled into his head since he was first created,

"And the righteous man who begins it is the only one who can finish it. _You_ have to stop it."

Dean looked at him then, brow creased in apprehension and guilt. "Lucifer?" He asked, "The apocalypse? What does that mean?" He saw Castiel hesitate and look away from him, but Dean wouldn't be having any of the angel's normal bullshit. He fought against his rough throat and raised his voice,

"Hey! Don't you go disappearing on me you son of a bitch. What does that mean?"

"I don't know—"

"Bull!"

"I don't." Castiel kept his voice level and calm despite the hunter's growing impatience. "Dean," the angel said looking back at the oldest Winchester, "they don't tell me much. I know…our fate rests with you."

"Well then, you guys are screwed." Dean admitted, feeling his voice crack, "I can't do it Cas. It's too big. Alastair was right. I'm not all here. I'm not—I'm not strong enough." He felt his emotions overwhelm him. Dean clenched his jaw, tried to pinch back the tears and looked away from the angel feeling so much guilt…so much torment. Dean looked down at his sister, gently removed his hand from hers and slowly stroked her hair,

"Well I guess I'm not the man either of our dads wanted me to be." He moved Melody's hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear, "Find someone else. It's not me." Melody shifted in her sleep, reaching out for his hand again and Dean automatically took it. She squeezed his hand, tucked it underneath her chin and sighed. All Dean wanted was to go back to the way things used to be. All he wanted was for his siblings to be happy again, he wanted their dad back…he wanted their mom back. He didn't want to be the righteous man. He was far from righteous. It was _his_ _fault_ this was all happening. It was _his fault_ his brother was slowly drifting; it was _his fault_ his sister was growing more and more reserved. Dean felt all of his emotions untangle and let them free. The tears flowed down his cheeks and he angrily bit them back. But he couldn't…and Dean Winchester silently cried in that hospital room, gripping his sister's hand and watching his brother sleep.

* * *

Melody popped her eyes open, her alarm clock blaring next to her. She sighed, slammed her hand down onto the alarm clock and stretched her legs. But she didn't linger too long in the bed. It was only a quarter till six, and she needed to get to the office quickly to set things up for Mr. Smith. She got out of the bed, crisp pink sheets folding over in her wake. She hummed lightly to herself as she showered and got ready for the day.

Melody picked out an outfit, trying to go for her most professional look. She chose a light beige pencil skirt, lavender blouse and a pair of light pink pumps. She put on her jewelry, admired the fresh pink polish on her nails and quickly pulled her hair back into a neat bun. Melody walked out of her bedroom, going for the kitchen and grabbing an energy bar and a bottle of water before heading out the door with her purse and leather binder in hand. She stopped at the local Starbucks, bought Mr. Smith his favorite breakfast, decaf, low fat latte and a slice of pumpkin bread before heading up the block to the office.

The young blonde entered the elevator of the Sandover building, having finished up her energy bar and water on the way she now gripped the warm coffee and brown bag of food in her hand while she hugged her leather binder underneath her arm. When the elevator dinged and the doors slowly opened, she grinned to herself and walked through the halls towards her office. She set down her purse and binder, looking through the clear glass wall into Mr. Smith's office to find that he hadn't arrived yet.

Perfect, she had plenty of time to get ready for him. She picked up her soft pink, leather journal and with his coffee and food in hand went into his office and waited for him to arrive. Nearly five minutes later, Dean Smith director of sales and marketing stepped through the door.

He smiled warmly at her, "Morning Miss West."

"Mr. Smith," she greeted with a kind smile and held out the coffee and bread. He took them both eagerly before sitting down behind his desk. Melody automatically opened up her leather binder, clicking a silver pen open and starting to read off his schedule.

"Today you have a meeting at two thirty with the board. A conference call at four with the V.P. and you have a few messages," she lifted a small stack of pink slips of paper from her binder and handed them over, "One is from James Dorsette, he reminded you about the golf tournament next week and said he was eager to "school you". The second is from Mrs. Park over in accounting, she said something about needing your assistance with a few audits—I didn't know if you would help or not so she is expecting a call later today. And the last few are from, Stacey, Amanda, and Heather. And I did as you instructed. I told them you were out of the country on business."

Dean Smith rifled through the messages, trashing the last few and laying the others on his desk. He flipped on his computer, "Thank you Miss West. Uh…get my presentation ready for that meeting." She turned to leave with a curt nod but he stopped her, "Get it done by noon, bring it in here and I'll double check it. Oh and call Mrs. Park, tell her I'll get back to her after the meeting."

Again, Melody West nodded, turning to leave for her much smaller office. It was about half the size of Mr. Smith's but, being the personal assistant of the director of sales and managing did come with a few perks. Like having your own office.

The day went on without too much of a hiccup. Melody always had to check to see if Mr. Smith needed her; the glass wall between their offices usually was their way of communicating. She helped him write up a report, helped him prepare his presentation for a meeting with the board, wrote up a few reports of her own, made a tentative itinerary for Mr. Smith's next few weeks and took most of his calls. The day was like any other day.

She got a quick visit from the big boss, Mr. Adler. He was a tall man, with grey hair on the sides of his head and a lovely bald spot right at the top. Mr. Adler wasn't somebody Melody had a lot of interaction with, but when she did, she got a funny feeling around him. Maybe she just didn't know him well enough.

By five thirty, Melody had finished up all of her work for the day and was waiting for Mr. Smith. They usually walked out of the building together and he would tell her what to prepare for the next day's work schedule. They weren't exactly friends, but they were friendly too each other. Melody didn't think she would ever hang out or hell, even _date_ the guy. He just wasn't really her type. And something about him made him seem more like he would be a brotherly figure to her than anything else.

Melody heard a light knock on the glass wall and saw Mr. Smith give her the signal saying it was time to head out. She nodded and quickly gathered her papers and other items, stuffing them neatly into her pink leather binder before grabbing her large white purse and following Mr. Smith to the elevator. He read off his schedule for tomorrow to her while she quickly jotted it down in her small planner. The elevator dinged, and the doors opened up slowly.

"You got all of it?" Mr. Smith asked her as they walked into the elevator. Melody nodded curtly,

"Yes sir, will you be wanting coffee and breakfast tomorrow morning?" he quickly shook his head "no" at her as the doors closed shut. They both fell into a comfortable silence as the doors shut. That's when Melody felt a pair of eyes watching her closely. Mr. Smith seemed to feel them as well and both glanced over to their right. A tall man with dark brown hair and deep hazel green eyes was staring at them both. He was wearing the Sandover IT uniform. Khakis, yellow polo shirt tucked in and brown shoes. Melody smiled kindly at him while Dean sort of nodded in greeting.

Yellow shirt stared at them both, "Do I know you?"

Melody shrugged, "No…"

"I don't think so." Dean answered, returning his attention to his blackberry. Yellow shirt watched them both closely. He could have sworn…

The man scoffed, "I'm sorry, it's just you two look really familiar." All Melody could do was give him another half-smile and shrug. Dean however grew impatient,

"Save it for the health club, pal."

* * *

Quarter to six, wake up, shower, eat breakfast, skip the coffee and get to the office. Print out presentations, attend meetings with Mr. Smith, take calls, jot down messages, lunch break, and then do it all over again until five-thirty. Melody went through her routine automatically, getting home by six, eat dinner, watch some television, prepare Mr. Smith's schedule for the next day and then sleep and do it all over again the next day.

Melody leaned against her desk, waiting for her printer. It beeped, sputtered and then died. Melody let out a sharp breath of annoyance, bending down and popping open the bottom drawer. "Oh come on…" Melody rolled her eyes. The toner cartridge had broken and spilled a good amount into the printer. Luckily, Mr. Smith was going to be in a very long meeting with the other directors, so she had plenty of time to clean up. When Melody was finished cleaning up the ink she searched for a new toner cartridge. She couldn't find any, and then remembered that they usually kept them a few floors up in the IT department.

Straightening out her white pencil skirt, she grabbed her pink cell phone and walked out of her office towards the elevator. Mr. Smith had always told her, if for any reason she needed to leave her office when he wasn't around, she had to keep her phone with her should he need her. Melody couldn't help but wonder what Mr. Smith was like outside of the office. He was a fairly nice man; sure he was a bit entitled sometimes and a bit of a jerk, but most people who worked in this building were. He was certainly a health nut. And usually gave her flack for drinking a frappuccino.

The elevator dinged, and Melody stepped out into the wide open IT department. It was basically just rows and rows of computers and on the left side of the room were various offices and a break room. She glanced around, not really sure where to go or who she should speak to.

"Um…hi, you need some help?"

She turned around and found the same guy from the elevator the other night—the one who swore he knew her and Dean from somewhere—standing just behind her. He was a lot taller than she remembered. Then again, she had opted to wearing a pair of gold ballet flats that day. Melody blinked up at him, stuttering for a moment before shaking her head.

"Uh—yeah, yeah um…I need toner. For my printer. Isn't this where most of the extra supplies are kept?"

He grinned at her, "Yeah. Follow me, I'll show you." He led the way glancing back over his shoulder, "My name's Sam by the way. Sam Wesson."

"Melody West." She smiled warmly at him. Sam led the way into the break room, going for a large metal cabinet. He pulled out a canister of toner handing it to her and she gave him a grateful smile. Melody turned to leave but Sam's voice stopped her,

"Hey do you…want some coffee? I'm technically on my break."

She hesitated, should she stay? She liked Sam enough; he was a nice guy and good company. Melody shrugged, "Well, my boss will be in his meeting for another half hour. Sure why not." Sam grinned at her and poured a cup for her and himself. They both mixed their coffees almost simultaneously. Melody noticed that they both had the same tastes. Three creams and two and a half sugars. She thought that was strange. She'd never met anyone else who used the sugar like she did.

Sam turned to start talking to her but saw his co-worker Ian walk in. "Hey Ian," Sam greeted him and pointed to his companion, "this is Melody. She's Mr. Smith's personal assistant."

Ian smirked, "Oh, so you and Mr. Smith are…"

Melody laughed, "No way. I'm not into him like that." She sipped at her coffee while Ian shrugged and turned to the supplies cabinet grabbing up a few boxes of pencils before stuffing them into his pockets.

"Ian! Dude." Sam rolled his eyes while Melody just chuckled. She had to admit it was pretty funny and she honestly didn't care that Ian was stealing from the company. For some reason, she suddenly hated the company.

The IT worker, who was casually dressed and not wearing the uniform shrugged, "Just doing a little shopping. Running low at home." Melody sipped at her coffee while Sam just sighed. He couldn't believe Ian would do that and in front of this girl of all people. It didn't seem like Melody would talk though. It was strange; it felt to Sam like he knew he could trust her. He'd only just met the blonde girl, but he knew she was loyal and smart and had a good heart.

Ian's voice brought him out of his reverie. "So Sam, had any of those dreams lately?"

"Dreams?" Melody asked glancing between the two IT workers. "What dreams?" Sam glanced at her and then at Ian, giving him what Melody would call a "bitch face" before sighing and turning his eyes away. Ian threw up his hands,

"What? Don't be like that. Come on. It's the highlight of my day."

"I never should have told you in the first place." Sam grumbled but Melody was intrigued. She threw out her empty cup and turned to him, crossing her arms over her pink blouse,

"I'd like to hear about these dreams." When Sam shot her the bitch face she chuckled, "Oh come on Sam. For a new friend?"

He just sighed, "I can't. Ian will just make fun of me."

Ian's brow creased in mock hurt, "What?! No way!" He scoffed, "I won't say a word—total respect. Go."

Sam sighed, chewing his lip for a moment before flicking his eyes between Ian and Melody. He was cornered and he couldn't back out now. "I dreamt that I saved a grim reaper named Tessa from demons."

He felt his head drop when Ian let out a loud laugh before covering his mouth to stifle the sound. Melody however, had frozen in place. Why? Because she'd had a dream exactly like that a week ago. She figured it didn't mean anything, that it was a stupid dream and nothing more. She stuttered and nearly jumped back when her phone started vibrating in her hands. Melody quickly answered it,

"Yes, Mr. Smith?"

_"Get up here. I need you to type out this report for me."_

"Yes sir. Right away." Melody nodded and killed the line. She smiled at Ian, giving him a quick goodbye before turning to Sam. "Uh…th-thanks for the drink Sammy. Don't let your giant ass hit the door on the way out." She jabbed a finger at his arm trying to shake off the weird warning bells going off in her head and quickly exited the room.

Sam watched her go. She'd called him 'Sammy', and teased him about his height. Why did that feel so familiar? And why did it make him feel so much at home to be around her?

"Oh man…" Ian sighed watching Melody leave. "I would so go for that."

"Dude…" Sam rolled his eyes but Ian just threw out his arms,

"What? And you wouldn't? Come on, she was hot."

"I don't know," Sam shrugged his shoulders staring at the spot where Melody had just been standing, "I mean I like her. But not like that. There's just something about her that feels like…" he trailed off, unable to find the word.

He and Ian went back to their desks after the man had called him "Harry Potter" and "Wizard". Sam of course called him a dick in return. Several hours passed by, going through the motions, answering calls, helping people turn off and turn on their computers. Printing out memos, printing out schedules, print, print and print.

Sam leaned back in his chair, filling out a new report from upstairs. He stopped writing half way through his name on the paper, letting out a long, drawn out yawn. He sighed, leaned his elbow on the desk and rested his head in his hand. And as soon as he closed his eyes, he got flashes of his strange dreams.

He saw himself holding a shotgun, beating up monsters, blasting them with rounds. Shooting a woman with red eyes in the forehead and watching her body flicker and die. Shooting a cloaked, wiry monster standing between two other people. All three were shooting. Himself, a man a few inches shorter than him with short brown hair and a girl several inches shorter than him and the other guy with long gold-blonde hair. He saw a ghost, and watched as he swiped it away with a crowbar. He saw the man with short hair stabbing someone through the heart, the blonde snarling and her eyes turning silver and glowing as she punched another blonde in the stomach. The blonde smiling up at him, laughing and calling him "Sammy" and the guy with short hair clinking a beer with him while all three sat atop a black car.

Sam jerked awake looking around the office to find that no one else had seen his little daydream go bad. But it wasn't all bad. It got a little good at the end. And that's when he found the word he'd been looking for earlier when Melody had said goodbye to him. _Family_. Those two people from his dream had felt like family. Sam felt a cold chill run up his spine. Something was definitely up. And it had to do with Melody and her boss Dean Smith.

* * *

The next morning. Melody went through her normal routine. Wake up, shower, get dressed, go to work. Only this time she was greeted with police and other emergency personnel. Apparently, a man in IT had killed himself the night before using the microwave in the rec room she'd been standing in just that day. Melody shuttered in her desk chair, not wanting to think about the gruesome picture that would have greeted her should she have gone into the rec room.

She scribbled down a report for Mr. Smith, trying to focus on the work in front of her. But all she could think about was the suicide earlier. She glanced up, saw Mr. Smith on his computer and quickly turned to her own. She pulled up the company roster and then found Paul Dunbar's file. She skimmed her eyes over it and then sat back in her seat.

"Two weeks? You were going to retire in two weeks but you killed yourself instead?" She reached up and idly scratched at her scalp, "What the hell…"

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Melody glanced up and saw Mr. Smith waving her in to his office. She nodded, knowing that she'd need a blank copy of a 445-T report. She walked around and into Mr. Smith's office, handing down the blank paper.

"Wait here, you can take him to HR when he's done." Dean Smith said and Melody nodded curtly. She stood next to his desk, reaching up to adjust her hair before waiting patiently. "You look different today."

She glanced down; saw Dean watching her closely, like he was trying to figure out a puzzle. Melody stuttered, "Uh…w-well I—"

"Your hair is down today." Dean said, pointing at her long blonde hair. Normally she wore her hair back but today she'd been running a little late and was only able to pull half of it up, tying a large pink bow around a chunk of hair to keep it in place. A few stray pieces fell around her face, framing her cheeks nicely. Dean grinned up at her, "It looks nice Mels. You should wear it down more often."

Melody just stared at him. Mels? Nobody had ever called her that. Normally it was Mel. But…she kind of like the nickname. It was like it was only Dean who could call her by that name. Why? She had no idea. But it seemed to fit his personality, what little Melody knew of it.

"Thanks Dean—I mean, Mr. Smith."

He shrugged, "Come on, you're practically my babysitter. You can call me 'Dean'. It'd make things easier anyways."

Melody chuckled, "Alright…Dean it is." They shared a quick grin before the worker in question came into the room, softly knocking on the open door.

Dean glanced up, "Hi, Ian is it?" Melody grinned warmly at him, remembering him from the day before. He looked different today though. He actually shaved, and was wearing the uniform. _Wonder what made him change_, she thought as Dean told Ian to come in.

"Yesterday," Dean began and Melody automatically pulled out the report handing it to her boss, "you filled out a 445-T. And uh, no problem—just a—just a few errors. I mean we did just switch over to vista, so I'm sure you're used to filling out the Dash-R's, am I right?"

Ian completely ignored Dean's light tone and Melody watched his face fall, "Oh no…" he mumbled, trembling visibly. Dean quickly shook his head, holding out a calming hand,

"No, no, no. It's fine. It's fine." He picked up the paper and set it down on the edge of the desk, "I just need you to redo one today so I can get the show on the road with the invoicing."

"Oh my God…" Ian whimpered staring at the paper in pure fear. Melody felt her brow crease, what was wrong with him? Again, Dean held out a calming hand and kept his voice even,

"No, it's fine. Just re-file it, and we're square."

"I can't believe I did this. I can't…" Ian shook his head, fists clenching and knuckles turning white. Melody and Dean shared a look, each wondering the same thing. What was wrong with this guy? Ian's voice quaked, "I can't believe it. I…can't believe I did this."

"Hey, Ian, it's alright." Melody said stepping forward, heels clicking beneath her. "Come on—"

"No, no." Ian's voice broke and cracked, "It affected profits. It—I screwed up. I-I can't. I can't…" he sounded like he was about to hyperventilate. Ian took in a shaking breath, "I am so sorry. How could I do that? I failed Sandover. I failed the company."

Melody set down her leather binder reaching out for Ian gently while Dean slowly stood up, "Uh, why don't you sit down, Ian?" They both got closer to him, but Ian just shook his head, whimpered another "no" before turning and running down the hall.

"Ian!" Dean and Melody called after him, but he wouldn't stop. They followed him to the men's bathroom at the end of the hall. Dean turned to her, "Look, maybe you should—"

"Don't." Melody ordered, surprising both herself and Dean at her commanding tone. Where the hell did that come from? She shook her head and ignored the fact that she was about to go into the men's bathroom—and had just given her boss an order—and pushed past Dean into the restroom. Dean followed after her, more concerned for the guy inside.

"Ian, hey." Dean said closing the door behind himself and Melody. Ian was standing at the far end of the counter, leaning on it and staring at himself in the mirror. He was still trembling and seemed to be fighting back tears. Dean held out his hands, palms facing down, "Just chill out, man. Okay?"

"Yeah, everything will be fine Ian." Melody added using the gentlest tone she could muster. She felt Dean automatically push her behind him as they both took another step closer to Ian. But they froze, feeling the air turn cold and dry, their breath escaping their mouths in white puffs of air.

All of the sinks turned on soon after. But that couldn't be possible. They were motion activated sinks, how the hell were they doing that? Melody stepped back a half step when the soap dispensers came on too, pouring pink soap all over the counters.

"Dean…" Melody whispered warily, feeling a crushing instinct to run and get the hell out. But she almost didn't want to leave. Some part of her was…getting excited. She felt Dean reach back and grip her arm, pushing her further behind him while he held out a hand to Ian,

"H-hey, maybe we should get out of here, huh? Come on." The IT worker just stared at himself in the mirror. He was actually shaking, and his face scrunched up as he seemed to be fighting tears. His grip on the sink was tight, his knuckles having lost all their color as he squeezed the porcelain harder and harder. "Ian." Dean called out to him, "Look at me."

Ian finally turned to face them, frozen in place. He stared at them blankly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pencil. Dean and Melody tensed up; afraid he would use the pencil as a sort of weapon on them. Instead…he used it on himself. Ian shot up his arm and stabbed the pencil into his neck. And Melody should have screamed, she should have run right out of that bathroom. But she didn't. She and Dean both watched Ian die, gurgling and choking on his own blood.

Dean glanced up and nearly fell back, he felt Melody do the same. They were both staring at the reflection of a tall, thin old man in a worn suit. When they looked back over their shoulders to the place that the old man should have been standing, they found the spot empty.

"Jesus…" Melody let out a shaking breath, staring back down at Ian's body. She numbly heard Dean call out for help. And numbly reported what she saw to the police. She stood back behind Dean having finished up her testimony and listened to him give his side of the story.

"No, no, no. We both uh followed him into the bathroom. He was uh…he was standing there in front of the mirror, and then…" Melody heard him trail off and curiously followed where his gaze had landed. She saw Sam Wesson from IT standing just down the hall, giving them both a stern but concerned look. "And uh, he stabbed himself in the neck. I'm sorry that's uh…" Dean finished shaking his head and staring at Sam.

Thirty minutes later, Melody was pacing the length of Dean's office, chewing her lip with her arms crossed over her chest. "I just…you saw it too right? The…the guy?" she asked stopping in front of his desk and watching him closely. Dean just shook his head,

"I…yeah I saw it but…what the hell was it Mels?" There he goes with the nickname again. Melody shrugged off the warm, comforting feeling in her stomach when he called her that. It wasn't _that_ kind of feeling. It was the feeling you'd get if you were around a best friend…or a member of your family.

Melody sighed, plopping down in one of the chairs and rubbing at her neck, "I think…it was a ghost."

"Oh crap—yeah me too." Dean rubbed a hand down his face. And before she could think, Dean had grabbed his phone and quickly dialed, ordering whoever was on the other end to get up to his office. Melody felt her eyes widen when Sam Wesson walked into the office.

"Come on in. Shut the door." Dean ordered him. Sam shut the door, giving Melody a quick grin before sitting down in the seat next to her. Dean watched him with a careful eye, leaning forward in his chair, "Who the hell are you?"

Sam chuckled and scoffed, "I'm not sure I know."

"What the hell does that mean?" Dean asked incredulous and slightly impatient. Melody bit back throwing her boss an impatient look, instead she waited patiently, sitting in the chair and looking up at the IT member.

He sighed, "Sam Wesson. I started here three weeks ago."

"Alright." Dean nodded taking a breath before continuing, "You cornered me in the elevator, talking about ghosts. And now…" Melody watched him trail off, and she could see fear in his large, candy apple green eyes. But he shook it off, standing from his chair and pacing for a moment, "Now nothing. I uh…"

Sensing that he didn't want to talk about that, Melody turned to Sam and changed the subject, "So, you started working here three weeks ago?" When Sam nodded, she pointed to herself and Dean, "Yeah, we did too."

Dean paced a bit more, picking up his large bottle of water. Sam eyed it questioningly while Melody fought back an eye roll. He'd started it a few days ago. All he consumed was the strange mixture. She even had to learn how to make it for him. Melody shivered as he sipped at it. "Master cleanse." Dean said holding up the brown liquid, answering Sam's confused look. "You tried it? Phenomenal. Detoxes you like nobody's business."

Sam stared at him and Melody, eyes going slightly wide, "When you were in that bathroom with Ian…did you see something?"

"I don't know." Dean shook his head, "I don't know what I saw."

Melody actually rolled her eyes this time, "Well you might not know but…I certainly do—I think."

"Wait…" Melody could see the gears working through Sam's head, "did you…see a _ghost_?"

"Oh my God—we did!" Melody clasped a hand over her mouth, covering up the excited squeal. Dean shook his hands,

"I—we were freaking out though. I mean, the guy penciled his damn neck."

"You did, didn't you?" Sam asked and watched Melody gave him an eager nod while Dean just sighed and dropped his head. Sam, getting equally as excited as Melody sat forward in the chair next to her, "Okay look, what if these suicides…_aren't_ suicides? I mean what if there's something…not natural?"

Dean let out a soft chuckle, "So what—ghosts are real? And they're responsible for all the dead bodies around here?"

Melody held up her hands, "Look, Dean I know it sounds crazy but…yes that's exactly what we're telling you."

"Uh-huh—based on what?" Dean asked them, clearly not believing either of Sam or Melody's beliefs. Sam and Melody both glanced at each other, each searching for the exact word that would help describe how they knew. And Melody realized that…she just knew. She stared at Sam and they both, in perfect unison said—more liked asked—one word,

"Instinct…?"

Dean stared at them, chewed his lip and glanced away for a second before let out a long breath, "I've got the same instinct."

"No way."

"Seriously?" Melody and Sam both gasped at him. They each shared a quick, eager look before Sam continued, "You know those dreams I was telling you about? I was dreaming about ghosts.

"Yeah," Melody nodded enthusiastically, getting more and more excited by the second, "and then it turns out that there's a _real_ ghost."

"So, you're telling me that your dreams are special visions and you're some kind of psychic?" Dean asked Sam who just stared at him blankly before quickly shrugging.

"No. I mean," he chuckled, "that would be nuts. I—I', just saying something weird is definitely going on around here, right? So I've been digging around a little." Sam opened up his bag and pulled out a small pile of papers, "I think I found a connection between the two guys."

Melody leaned forward to get a better look at the papers in Dean's hands. He stared at them and threw up his hands, "You broke into their email accounts?"

"Oh my God you did?" Melody giggled, watching Sam's face fall for a half second.

"I…" he stuttered and seemed to pick his words carefully, "used some skills that I happen to have to…satisfy my curiosity."

Dean grinned, "Nice." And Melody just laughed some more while staring at the papers. Sam's shoulders fell with relief and he leaned forward pointing to the papers,

"Okay so it turns out Ian and Paul both got this same e-mail telling them to report to H.R., room 1444."

"But…H.R.'s on seven…" Melody said, brow creasing in confusion. Sam just pointed at her,

"Exactly." Dean set down the papers, rubbing a hand over his chin before musing out loud,

"Should we go check this out?"

Sam hesitated, "Like…right now?" Melody sat back, mouth opening and closing while she shrugged, unsure of what to do. Dean watched her and shook his head, rubbing his eyes,

"No. no, It's getting late. You're right." He leaned back in his chair but felt two pairs of eyes watching him closely. Melody saw the look on Sam's face before he said slowly,

"I am dying to check this out right now."

"Right?" Dean exclaimed and saw Melody shoot up from her chair, throwing up her hands in excitement,

"Yes!"

* * *

_Woo! One of my favorite episodes! Well like all of them are my favorite but...yeah...anyways, I'd love to hear all of your opinions on what you think of the Melody/Castiel pacing. Should I speed it up? Slow it down? Keep it the same? Let me know!_

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	38. Larping?

**Guys! Four...more...days! Ugh, I'm gathering everything I'm going to need for season 9 premier. Blankets (a lot of them), popcorn, candy of some sort, remote, and tissues...lots and lots of tissues. Ok...ok...breath...**

**Ahem, anyways I couldn't sleep so you all get to benefit from my insomnia! New chapter! We get to move right into one of my favorite episodes of season 4 at the end of this chapter! And...you know that whole Chuck is God thing? And then there was that weird dude Bill who we haven't seen in like forever? Well, I'm not saying but I am saying...something is up...and a lot of you were right...ahem, okay I'll stop talking :) love you all!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

Sam led Melody and Dean through the dark hallways of floor fourteen. There wasn't really much on the floor. It was dusty, empty and quiet…way too quiet. Melody thought that this whole thing was just going to be a bust, not worth their time. But when they heard a loud crash and the piercing cry of a man in pain, they ran around the corner to find room 1444.

Melody tried the door, gripping the cold handle and shaking the wood, but the door would not budge or give an inch. "Hang on." Sam said, gently pulling her behind him. When she was a safe distance away, Sam took a half step back and then slammed his foot into the wooden door, kicking it open with one fluid motion.

"Whoa…"

"Damn…" Dean and Melody stared at Sam's sudden burst of strength in slight awe. Sam shrugged it off; it was probably one of those adrenaline things. Setting aside the incredible display of strength, all three went into the room finding a man buried underneath a fallen metal shelf with papers and folders thrown around him.

Melody went around to stand next to Sam, ready to pull the man out as soon as there was an opening. The boys hardly lifted the shelf an inch before a ghost—the very same one Dean and Melody had seen earlier—appeared behind Dean. He barely had time to register the frightened yelp of surprise from Melody before he felt himself being grabbed by the shoulders and thrown backwards.

The ghost backhanded Melody across the face and she fell clumsily next to the fallen shelves. She heard Sam grunt in pain as he too was thrown backwards, falling face-first onto the dusty wooden floor. Melody glanced up and saw the ghost stepping towards her and the victim. She panicked, started to push on the shelf the best she could but nothing was happening. "Come on!" she grunted in frustration and anger. And before she knew it she felt her anger completely take over her senses. Everything became heightened. She could hear better, smell better, and her sight was so clear she could see the dust particles flying through the air.

She groaned, pushed against the shelf and felt her fingers starting to _dig_ _into_ the metal. That made her freeze. How the hell was she doing that?

Dean leaned up from the floor, feeling a number of fresh bruises already forming on his back and shoulders. But he ignored the pain. Right now, Melody was trying to get the shelf off of the victim and she was completely ignoring the fact that she was putting _herself_ in danger. The ghost was standing right above her and the victim, electricity dancing across its fingertips.

Sam saw it too. As he slowly picked himself up off the floor, he saw the ghost leaning down to touch the metal of shelf. And when he did that…anyone touching that metal would be shocked, electrocuted, fried—and he would not let that happen to Melody.

"No!" he screamed, pure fear and instinct taking over his body at the thought of Melody getting killed. Sam made to run for Melody, but by the time he was half way there…he knew it was already too late. That's when he heard a loud roar and a deep, alarmed voice cry out,

"_Mels!_"

He looked up, saw Dean reach out and grab at the first weapon his fingers could find and stand up swinging at the ghost. The wrench Dean had picked was obviously the right choice, because as soon as the metal of the wrench touched the ghost…it vanished.

The room went silent again, all three people panting from the adrenaline rush. Melody groaned again, feeling her anger completely wash away as she stood up to get a better angle on the shelf. She glanced up; saw Dean and Sam staring at her with pure worry etched on their features. Melody huffed and gestured to the shelf impatiently,

"You gonna help me or what?"

Sam and Dean sprang into action, resuming their positions on either side of the shelf while Melody bent down and placed her hands underneath the victim's arms. The boys grunted as they lifted the shelf up and Melody pulled the man out. When he was safe and on his feet, the boys dropped the heavy shelf.

The man who had almost been killed obviously didn't want to stay in the room any longer. He gave the three people a hasty thank you before sprinting out of the door and down the hall. Melody bent down, resting her hands on her knees to catch her breath for a second.

"How'd you know how to do that?" Sam asked Dean, pointing down to the fallen wrench on the floor. Dean just shrugged,

"I have no idea."

Melody stood up straight, thinking back to what had happened when she'd tried to pull off the shelf on her own. Was that one of those adrenaline high things people always talk about? But…when Melody actually _looked_ at the toppled shelf…she knew it was completely different. The metal had been bent, twisted and reformed where she'd been holding onto it before. She stared down at her hands—not a scratch or any mark on them.

"What…" she panted, "the…hell…"

* * *

Melody nervously twisted her fingers together and kept her eyes downcast. And all she could think at the moment? Shit…shit and…shit.

After their incident with the ghost, herself, Sam and Dean had all gone back to Dean's apartment and researched everything they could find on the history of the building. They even found a website with real ghost hunters, the Ghostfacers. They had an instructional video on how to take down ghosts and everything.

She grinned thinking back to the two nerds in the video. And…she had to admit that they were kind of cute in a super nerdy way. She bit back a giggle; there was just something about awkward, nerdy and really sweet guys that really got to her. Maybe it had something to do with that guy she'd dreamt about. She didn't mention those dreams to anyone. But they could hardly be called dreams anyway. She would just see a face, a really blurry face but a face nonetheless. Even his voice had been muffled. But…something told her she knew him. And in her dreams she'd tried to get a better look at him, but every time she got closer and closer to him—he would vanish or her dream would turn into nightmares. And the nightmares would consist of flashes—almost like memories—of herself and two other men fighting and killing and running…and crying. She always saw so many tears coming from her and the other two.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she returned her attention to the two men standing next to her. She slowly moved a little bit closer to Sam—not wanting to get too close to the other figure standing in the elevator. Melody inwardly sighed, thinking back to their search of the office, but they hadn't found even a scrap. They needed to burn Sandover's body, and unfortunately Sandover had been cremated but the Ghostfacers video said that sometimes pieces of DNA are left behind, and that's how the ghosts are still able to stick around. So, herself, Dean and Sam were currently in Sandover's former office—room 1444—searching for any little piece of P.T. Sandover.

Melody glanced over at Sam before moving her eyes back to the elevator floor sheepishly. They had—unfortunately—been caught digging through room 1444. Dean hadn't been caught thankfully. It was just Melody and Sam standing inside the elevator waiting for it to reach the bottom floor. Melody felt her heart pound in her chest. This could not be happening. She was sure to lose her job now. She silently prayed that something would get the guard distracted and give her and Sam enough time to get away.

The elevator began its decent downwards and Melody watched the digital numbers countdown, 14…13…12…11—but they flickered off and on. The small television used to display the weather report blinked and static danced across the screen. Melody immediately tensed up, instinctually reaching out to take hold of Sam's arm. The room went from normal temperature to freezing cold. All three people standing in the elevator watched their breath escape their mouths in white puffs.

"Sam…" Melody whispered moving closer to him. He barely had time to look down at her before the elevator jerked and rumbled, sending its occupants nearly falling over. Melody let out a quick yelp of surprise; catching herself on the far wall of the elevator and feeling her ankles give out for a second. She inwardly grumbled down at her heels. She suddenly hated them—but she could remember loving them earlier.

Once the elevator came to a slow halt, the security guard went for the controls, pressing the buttons frantically. When those didn't work, he took out his master key, opening up the elevator doors. He moved to open up the outside doors that would lead them to the hallway, grunting with the effort.

"Well, come on." He said staring out at the hall. Melody gaped at him and saw Sam quickly shake his head,

"What?" he asked, tense and feeling Melody was just as tense as him. The guard looked back at the two,

"Last time this happened, it took them two hours to get here."

Melody nodded her head hastily, "Good—let's just wait." The guard gave her a look, ignoring her obvious trepidation and turned back to the open door. He grunted, lifting himself up into the hall, his keys clinking the whole time. But, every time the guy moved, Melody stepped further away from the doors. She just had this horrible feeling that something was going to happen. Again, she reached out for Sam's arm and gripped it tightly. The elevator groaned with their movement—but the doors remained open.

Finally, the guard was safely in the hall and he turned back only to find the two trespassers hold out their hands and shake their heads. Sam took another step back—though he was already pressed up against the wall. "Seriously," he tried to grin, "we'll wait."

The guard rolled his eyes and obviously got annoyed. He fumed, stuck his head into the elevator and pointed harshly at the two, "Look I don't have the rest of my life here—"

He wasn't able to finish. The elevator gave way, doors slamming together. And before Melody or Sam could even begin to register what exactly had happened, they saw the guard's body literally get sliced in half and felt blood splatter all over their shirts and faces.

Melody threw up her hands, mouth pinching shut, eyes squeezed together. Sam had done basically the same thing as her, only he'd kept his hands at his sides, clenching them into fists. Melody heard Sam gasp and opened up her eyes, then let out a piecing scream,

"Jesus _fucking_ Christ!"

* * *

Sam led Melody around the corner. After they'd tried to clean up as much of the blood off their faces—leaving several stains on their clothes and even a few blotches in Melody's hair—they'd called Dean and he'd told them to meet him on floor twenty-two.

"Whoa." Dean stared at them both, "That's a lot of blood."

Melody frowned at her shirt which was now completely ruined, "Don't ask."

"Right. Uh, in there." Dean said after a moment, not wanting to know where all of the blood had come from. Instead he pointed at the wall they were standing next to. It was a wall showing off the many bridges the company had made and there were a few display cases of important historical items related to the company. One in particular, about waist high was what Dean was pointing to.

"P.T. Sandover's gloves." Sam read the inscription out loud seeing Dean nod,

"How much you want to bet there's a little smidge of DNA in there?"

Melody bent down to get a closer look at the gloves, "Yeah like, maybe a fingernail clipping or a hair or two—something."

"So, you ready?" Sam asked them but only got pauses from his new companions. Melody bit her lip, crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. She honestly had no answer for that.

Dean sighed as well, staring down at the gloves intently, "I have no idea."

"Me neither." Sam shrugged. They shook off their anxious fears and bent down to the small bag of supplies they'd pulled together. The boys grabbed two iron fire pokers from the bag while Melody picked up the salt and lighter.

All three stood up straight and Melody knew that it was now or never. "Alright—go for it." She said, gripping the salt tightly in her hand. Dean nodded, pulled back his arm and slammed the fire poker into the display case. It shattered, glass shards falling all over the floor around them. Melody bent down to reach for the gloves, but froze…the air had grown deathly cold, her breath escaping her mouth in white puffs.

Melody stood back up, glancing between Dean and Sam, "Oh…cra—ahh!" she screamed, suddenly feeling herself flying backwards. Melody landed hard on her back on the floor, skidding a few feet before she knocked her head against the wall. There was a loud thud as her skull met the wall and Melody groaned, feeling dazed as her vision began to swim.

"Mels!" Dean cried starting to run over to her, that same instinct kicking in. He knew he needed to protect her. It was his job. She was…well he didn't exactly know what she was to him. His personal assistant, or as he liked to call it, personal babysitter. But…no that wasn't right. No she was so much more than that. For some reason, he knew she liked apple pie the best, and her favorite band was Led Zeppelin, and she secretly loved the movie Pride and Prejudice, and her favorite book was this lame kid's book she read when she was twelve…what was it? Oh yeah, Artemis Fowl. Dean knew within a flash of a second that she was the only person he'd ever met who actually _believed_ that fairies were real—even though she'd never met one. He knew she could sing along to every single Disney movie from memory, He knew she liked cats and always wanted one. He knew she hated the smell of lavender. He knew that she was secretly afraid of the dark.

And he knew he didn't want her to die.

But that couldn't be true. No he'd only met the girl three weeks ago when they first started working together. They never talked outside of work; they never talked about anything _but_ work. But…that raw, undying feeling of pure protectiveness, the absolute need to get her safe now was too overwhelming and as he blindly ran for her, he never saw the ghost of Sandover flicker into existence in front of him before it was too late. Sandover threw Dean backwards, where he crashed roughly into the far wall face first. Dean groaned falling over and feeling a fresh cut on the top of his head.

Sam had watched the entire thing. He watched Melody get thrown backwards, watched Dean get tossed aside like they were both made out of paper. Sam felt pure, unwavering fear crawl up his spine as he watched his two companions struggle to stand. And all those dreams flashed through his mind again. But they were the good ones this time. And this one in particular, always stood out as the best to him.

He saw the blonde girl laughing on a bed, falling over, clutching her stomach as happy tears fell down her cheeks. He felt that he should be laughing just as hard as her too from the emotions the dream created. He heard a deep male voice groan from the other room and saw the door open revealing a brightly lit, cheap motel bathroom. The guy who came out of the bathroom had the brightest pink lipstick smeared across his chin and jaw, dark, black shadows covered his eye lids and bright red blush was slapped messily onto his cheeks. The blonde stared at him before letting out another wave of laughter, which only cause dream Sam to do the same. And before he knew it, dream Sam and the blonde were being chased through a dark parking lot by the other man as he screamed profanity after profanity at them.

The dream flashed away and before Sam could even blink let alone register what he'd just seen—he felt a pair of cold, icy hands shoving him away. Sam flew through the air, landing hard on his back and sliding to the floor. Sandover stared down at him, menacing and angry. He lifted his hand, electricity dancing over his worn fingertips. He stalked closer and closer to Sam who clumsily reached for his iron weapon. But he'd dropped it and it had slid away from his grasp.

Melody leaned up, finally coming out of her daze. She glanced over; saw Dean struggling to get up from the floor on one side of the room and on the other side…Sam was backed up into the wall with Sandover creeping up on him. No, no she would not let that happen. It was her job to keep these two morons alive. And much like Dean and Sam, she felt that instinct consume her body. An ounce of unknown strength took over Melody as she stood up quickly, gripped the salt in her hands and ran over to the ghost.

"Sammy!" Melody panted, gripping the now half empty bottle of salt in her hands, letting the top fall to the ground. With the ghost gone for now, she bent down towards Sam holding out a hand for him. "You alright?"

"Yeah…" he nodded weakly, standing up to his full height. They both heard a low groan and looked over to find Dean getting up from the floor, a small cut on the top of his head.

"Nice!" Dean called out to them, grinning the whole time. He watched his companions nod and grin as well, but their faces quickly fell as Sam called out,

"Dean!" He bent down, picked up his fallen iron weapon and threw it across the room to Dean who immediately caught it. And picking up on where both Sam and Melody's eyes were looking, he knew where Sandover would be. Dean gripped his weapon in two hands, turned and swung hard in a large swooping arch.

"Wow…nice catch." Melody commented, that stupid grin on her face again. Dean smirked back, staring down and admiring his new weapon,

"Right?"

Sam moved to take up the other iron fire poker, standing with his back to Dean. Melody stood a few feet from them, gripping the can of salt firmly and watching every single movement that was made in the room. She blinked, saw Sandover flicker into existence again in between the boys and called out,

"Guys!" Dean and Sam reacted quickly, turning and swiping the ghost away. Sandover disappeared, and then reappeared again behind Dean, then Sam who saw Melody react as well. Both threw out their weapons hoping to get rid of the ghost again. Only when Sam swung his weapon, and when Melody threw out the rest of her salt…Sandover had disappeared again.

"Where the…" Melody grimaced searching for the ghost. She barely noticed Sandover flicker into existence behind Sam before she saw him getting thrown across the room, landing where she'd been lying several seconds earlier. Melody—now with now weapon—caught eyes with the ghost, tried to back away and failed. Sandover threw out his hand, shooting Melody into the wall again where she landed on the floor next to Sam.

Dean turned, caught sight of Sam and Melody on the floor and then Sandover before he felt the ghost shove him hard down the length of the long hallway. Dean's back slammed into the wall and he fell to the ground feeling all of the air escape his lungs in one quick breath. Sandover loomed over him, mouth set in a permanent frown, eyes dark and unfeeling.

Melody stood up on shaking legs from the floor, "Sam! The gloves! Go!" she ordered reaching down and grabbing up the iron fire poker. She saw Sam out of the corner of her eye run over to the display case, but he would get it done in time. Sandover was literally inches from shocking Dean to death. And Melody wouldn't be able to run that distance that fast.

"Please work," she mumbled, gripping the iron poker in one hand. She held up the weapon to her nose, pointing it horizontally, holding out her other hand to help her aim. Melody took a half step back, bit her lip and then took a few quick steps before releasing the poker. Letting out a quick, loud roar, she poured every ounce of her strength into the throw. She watched the iron poker sail through the air like a javelin, twisting as it arched and got closer and closer to her target until…

_CRASH!_

The iron poker soared right through Sandover, sticking itself into the wall and whatever cheap glass photograph had been there. Melody let out a small sound of triumph, knowing she'd just saved Dean's life. Dean looked up at the fire poker which was buried deep into the wall and then over to Melody. He grinned, impressed at her athleticism. Only his grin turned into a deep frown when he saw Sandover's form standing directly behind her, reaching out his hand to touch her exposed neck.

"No!" he screamed, shooting up from the floor. Melody looked over her shoulder, now seeing the ghost and now realizing how close he was to her skin. She started to move, started trying to just get away, only to feel a sudden surge of heat behind her. Melody covered her face, took several steps away from the heat and looked back to find Sandover's ghost quickly burst into flames and puff away and Sam standing over the now burning leather gloves.

A large, genuine smile crossed over her features and Melody wanted to just run over and hug Sam. But she stopped herself. She didn't know him that well. Instead she panted, feeling the drain of energy and looked back down the hall to find Dean leaning heavily against the wall.

"Holy…shit…" Melody panted, smile never leaving her face. Sam let out a short laugh and looked between her and Dean,

"That was amazing!"

"Right?" Dean answered standing up from the wall, smiling just as wide as they were. He laughed, and heard the other laugh with him, "Right?"

After staring at each other, laughing and grinning, Melody announced that they should start to clean up. It probably wouldn't look too good with all their crap lying around the office. They picked up in silence, though each felt equally as awesome as the other. Soon, the hallway was cleaned and Dean brought them to his office where he pulled out a small medical kit. Melody immediately took it from his hands, having him sit at the desk while she gently dabbed at the cut on Dean's head.

"Man I got to tell you," Dean grinned glancing between the two people in his office, "I've never had so much fun in my life."

He missed the deeply thoughtful gaze Melody and Sam exchanged. They both seemed to be thinking the same thing. Sam saw that she was trying not to think it and he was too but…he just couldn't stop. He shrugged, "Me neither."

"It was a hell of a workout too, wasn't it?" Dean asked him, enthusiastic smile never leaving his face. Sam had a feeling Melody wouldn't say what she was thinking, so he decided to be the one instead.

"We should keep doing this."

Dean chuckled as Melody set down the small cotton ball and stood in front of them, "I know."

"I mean it." Sam persisted, "There got to be other ghosts out there. We could help a lot of people."

"Yeah, right." Dean smirked, "We'd be like the Ghostfacers."

"Dean," Melody said, arms crossed over her stomach, "I think he means really. Like…for real."

Her boss just chuckled at her, "What? Quit our jobs and hit the road?" Melody slowly nodded while Sam was a bit more animated,

"Exactly."

Dean scoffed, "How would we live?" He watched Sam struggle for an answer and spoke again when the guy couldn't come up with one. "Come on you've got to be kidding me. How would we get by—with stolen credit cards? Huh? Eating diner food drenched in saturated fats? Sharing a crap motel room every night?"

"That's all just details." Sam insisted but Dean wouldn't hear it,

"Details are everything! You don't want to go fighting ghosts without any health insurance."

All three fell into a slightly tense silence. Melody hadn't really said much at all. She was honestly afraid of what she'd say. She couldn't piss off her boss, as much as they'd "bonded" tonight; he still had the power to fire her. And she did not need that right now.

After a quick second of silence, Sam cleared his throat and sighed, "Alright…confession time."

"What?" Dean asked, almost afraid to find out the answer. Sam looked between him and Melody,

"Remember those dreams I told you about, with the ghosts?" After he got a "yeah" and "sure" from the others he continued, "I was fighting them…with…you two. We were these like…hunters. And we were friends. More like a family, really."

Melody had cast her eyes away, afraid because…well…she'd been feeling something like that as well. They weren't exactly because of dreams. But the way she'd been fighting to protect Dean and Sam, the way they'd both fought to protect her and each other—that screamed family to her. Not just three people with a common interest.

Sam continued, "I mean, what if that's who we really are? I mean, you saw us back there, working together. Th-the ghost was scrambling people's brains. What if it scrambled ours?"

"That's insane." Dean said, standing up to pace. Sam wouldn't stop and kept going.

"Is it?" He asked and started speaking rapidly, hands moving wildly, "Think about it for just one second. What if we think this is our life…but it's not?"

Dean had moved behind his desk, sitting on the large window sill he shrugged his shoulders, "Hey man the ghost is dead, and we're still standing. Look I'm sorry but—"

"All I know is," Sam's voice rose in pitch as he stood from the desk and turned to face Dean, "this isn't who we're supposed to be."

"No." Melody watched her boss as he pointed to himself, "I'm Dean Smith, okay? Director of sales and marketing. I went to Stanford. My father's name is Bob, my mother's name is Ellen, and my sister's name is Jo."

"When's the last time you talked to them?" Sam asked, tossing out his arms, "To any of them?"

Melody stared at the floor, completely staying out of the conversation. Luckily, neither Sam nor Dean took notice of how quiet she'd gone and Dean stood up from his spot, shaking his head. "Okay. You're upset. You're upset, you're confused—"

"Yeah, cause I only moved here cause I just broke up with my fiancé Madison. But I called her number and I got a damn animal hospital."

Dean stared up at him, slightly confused, "Okay, what are you saying? Y-you trying to say that—that my family isn't real? Huh? That we've been injected with fake memories? Come on!"

Sam's jaw hitched, "All I know is, I got this feeling in my gut. And I know—I know that, deep down, you and Mel have got to be feeling it too."

Melody swallowed hard, thankful that neither of the men looked at her. Sam let out a short breath, "We're supposed to be something else. You're not just some corporate douche bag. Mel isn't just some office drone who follows orders—guys…this isn't either of you. I know you—both of you." Melody literally had to bite her tongue. She wouldn't cry, not in front of her boss, not in front of him.

She heard Dean scoff, "Know me? You don't know me, pal. You should go." Sam, defeated, tried to get Melody to say something but she wouldn't. She just sucked in her lip and stared at the floor. She watched Sam leave, watched as he didn't look back, and watched him walk out of her life.

She must have been standing in the same spot for a while because she heard Dean call out to her, "Miss West. Go home, get some sleep. I'll see you in a few hours."

"No." Melody shook her head, glancing up from the floor at him. He seemed slightly surprised; her voice had grown ten times more demanding than he'd ever heard. Dean stared at her, blinked several times and leaned down on his desk,

"What?"

"I said, no." Her voice shook slightly, but it wasn't out of fear or hurt, it was out of conviction. Melody uncrossed her arms, stood to her full height in front of his desk and stared him directly in the eyes. "My name…is not Melody West."

Dean scoffed, "Okay…then what is your name?"

Melody stepped back, throwing up her hands and shrugging, "I don't know. But I just know it's not my name—in fact, it's the dumbest name I've ever heard in my life."

Her boss stood up as well, pointing to where Sam had just been standing, "Mels, don't let him get to you. Come on, you know he was just talking crazy."

"You see, my whole life, nobody has called me that. "Mels"…yeah, never." She watched him, bright hazel eyes shining with more and more confidence. "Do you want to know what my memories are? I remember being an orphan. According to my memories, I grew up on the streets and in between foster homes. Nobody ever liked me, and I never liked them either. I fought and worked my ass off to get here. And when I finally get to the top…I end up working for the biggest asshole this entire company had to offer."

Dean was shocked. She'd never once talked to him like this. Where the hell was this coming from? And…he was speechless. He didn't know what to say back to her, so he just kept quiet while she continued.

"But I'm like him," she gestured to where Sam had once stood, "I feel it. I'm not supposed to be this." Melody looked down at her clothes, "This isn't me. I mean, I _hate_ pink! I never wear pink—I would never even paint my _nails_ pink! And you know what else?"

She reached back and started tugging at her hair, "I don't wear bows!" She ripped the fabric from her hair letting it fall on its own accord and tossed the frilly pink fabric onto his desk. "I don't wear bows! I don't wear heels! I don't wear skirts! I don't…"

Melody trailed off, reigning in her vehement rant. She flicked her eyes over everything, "I'm not an orphan. I-I know I'm an orphan but I know that I'm not an orphan. I…I have brothers. Two…brothers. And…and I'm in the middle. We're all two years apart…we all like chocolate cake…and the three of us can eat bacon with anything." Tears started to pool at the edges of her eyes, but Melody just smiled as more and more memories poured through her mind.

"I…I'm not this." She looked at her clothes again, "I'm not a P.A.—I'm not…I'm not Melody West. And you," she breathed out finally looking up at her boss again, "you're not my…boss. You're not this. You're not you. I'm supposed to be your sister not whoever that was—"

"Stop it." Dean ordered, voice going deep and quivering. "You are not my sister. I met you three weeks ago when I hired you."

"But I am!" Melody persisted, shaking her hands between herself and Dean, "I can feel it! Don't tell me that you don't feel it! You know it's true!"

"Miss West, please stop this now—"

"No! My name isn't Melody West! I _told_ you!" She screamed, slamming her hands onto his desk. Dean just spoke over her, ignoring her outburst.

"Leave my office before I call security Miss West."

"Go ahead!" She shouted again, this time her conviction turned to anger, "But don't you _dare_ stand there and tell me you don't feel it! Don't you _dare_ lie to my _face_ Dean!"

They both stared at each other for a long, tense second. Dean's jaw worked, his eyes registered nothing to her. Melody couldn't read his features at all. But that wasn't right. Because she knew she could. He spoke again finally, though his voice never became louder than a normal tone as he spoke calmly to her,

"It's Mr. Smith. And you will leave my office, or I will be forced to let you go."

Melody literally saw red. Her temper flared and she grabbed the first thing her eyes fell on—the open medical kit. She picked it up and threw it to the floor, hearing it crash and seeing its contents fly everywhere. She was breathing hard, barely controlling her wrath as her chest heaved up and down. Her jaw clenched, hands balled into fists tightly at her sides. Melody stared at him, stared at his face and tried to wipe away all the alarm bells going off in her head that kept saying "not like this" over and over. But her temper was speaking for her now. And she'd basically said it all with her display.

She breathed in and out harshly through her nose, "I…quit." Her jaw trembled as she held back all of her fury, speaking the words through gritted teeth at him. "And when you have those doubts—because I know you will—I hope you think about me…your _real_ sister."

And just like that, she turned and stormed out of her life, going off to wherever she could escape to. Melody got into the elevator, slammed the button for the lobby and waited impatiently for the lift to stop. When it did, she barreled past the doors and the guards and the janitors and out the front doors. She came to the sidewalk and nearly stumbled when her heel dug into one of the cracks in the concrete.

"Fucking…shoes!" she screamed, bending down and ripping off the delicate pink heels. She fumed, threw them down to the ground and felt an ounce of satisfaction when the heels snapped off. Melody ignored the onlookers and huffed, walking past them all and down the street. She wouldn't get far, before she felt a pair of strong hands grab hold of her and pull her aside into an empty alley.

Melody nearly screamed, only it was stopped by a hand clamping down over her mouth. The skin was incredibly warm, calloused and gentle all at once. She smelled rain and wet grass, something that made her heart flutter and relax. She fought against whoever was holding her though, afraid that some creep had just pulled her off the street for…God knows what.

She tried to elbow him in the stomach, tried to kick her bare feet around, tried to do something, but whoever this person was…they were incredibly strong. "Melody." She finally heard a deep, rough, smooth voice speak in her ear. And before she could blink, the man holding her had flipped her around, slammed her back against the wall and was gripping her forehead.

Gasping from both surprise and fear, she made to move away from him again but as soon as his hand was against her head…everything seemed to blur for a second before becoming clear again and…

Melody Winchester popped open her eyes, finding herself and Castiel standing in a dark alleyway off of a busy street. She blinked, remembering everything that had just happened and then finally looked up at him. "Cas…" she breathed out, shoulders visibly relaxing at the sight of him. "Holy shit—Cas you're here."

She jumped up from the wall, wrapping her arms around his neck, relieved to see him again. It felt like a lifetime since she'd last laid eyes on him. "You have no idea what I've been through. I-I think something put a spell on us. I feel like I've been here for at least three weeks."

"That's because you have been." He answered, reaching up and gently pulling her away from him. At her confused stare he backed away from her and started to explain as best he could. "My superior, Zachariah, put you and your brothers here. He sought to teach Dean a…lesson."

"Lesson?" Melody glanced at her clothes, inwardly grimaced at them and looked back up at Castiel, "What the fuck kind of lesson is—um…sorry." she mumbled, covering her mouth for a brief moment, "I feel like I haven't cursed in a good three weeks."

"That's because you haven't."

Melody had to laugh at his deadpanned expression. And the fact that he was completely serious about it. She wondered how her brothers were dealing with realizing where they'd all been for the past three…

"Oh shit!" Melody screamed, running pass Castiel to the edge of the alleyway, "I need to get to Sam and Dean! Oh…fuck I just yelled at Dean for no reason!" Melody ran a nervous hand through her hair, stared at the street hoping she'd see one of her moron brothers out there but neither showed up. She took a step out of the alley, moving to go back to the Sandover building but froze. She looked back over her shoulder at Cas, seeing his stiff form watching her closely. Melody smiled at him, felt a surge of bravery course through her—possibly stemmed from the urgency of wanting to find her brothers—and ran back to him. She tossed her arms lazily around his neck and held tightly.

"Thanks featherhead." She grinned, not really caring that he didn't hold her back and quickly released him turning and running back out of the alley and down the street.

Castiel watched her go, longing for her to be close to him again. No—he squashed whatever that was out of his mind. Zachariah was near, he couldn't be expressing emotions when his superior was so close, and when Heaven was watching his every move. He glanced down at the hand he'd used to cover up Melody's mouth with. There was a smudge of glitter on the palm of his hand where her lips had been pressed against.

His vessel felt warm again—too warm. What were these things running through his head? Why did he not want her to go? Why did he not want her to release the hold she'd had on him? Why hadn't he been brave enough to _hold her back_? Castiel stared at the smudge on his hand…it was nothing. It was just the vessel. And he kept repeating these things to himself over and over as he quickly wiped the smudge from his hand and disappeared from sight.

* * *

Grant O'Neil flipped through the work schedule. They only had a few guys working at the comic store, but trying to figure out the hours was a bitch. He wished they could hire on someone else. Maybe a girl…

The bell above to door jingled, and Grant looked up to find two men both dressed in nice suits and coats walk up to the counter he was sitting behind. "Uh…can I help you?" Grant asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Sure hope so." The shorter of the two said and both, in practiced unison pulled out a pair of FBI badges, "Agents DeYoung and Shaw. Just need to ask you a few questions."

The tall one put away his badge, "Notice anything strange in the building last couple of days?"

Grant shrugged, "Like what?"

"Well," pretty boy began explaining, "some other tenants reported flickering lights."

"Uh...I don't think so, why?"

"What about noises?" Agent Shaw kept pressing, "Any skittering in the walls? Kind of like rats?"

Grant felt his brow crease, "And the FBI is investigating a _rodent_ problem?"

Shaw ignored his questions, "What about cold spots? Feel any sudden drops in temperature?"

And that's when it hit him. That's when Grant realized why these two were so damn familiar. "I knew it!" he cried out in triumph, pointing at them and grinning, "You guys are larping aren't you?"

"Excuse me?" DeYoung questioned but Grant just grinned wider.

"You're fans."

"Fans of what?"

"What is "Larping"?"

Grant chuckled, "Like you don't know." When he saw they didn't he explained, "Live action role playing. And pretty hardcore, too. Except you seem to be missing—"

"There you two are!" The bell above the door jingled and a beautiful blonde girl stomped harshly into the store. She walked up to stand between the two guys dressed in fairly casual clothes compared to them, and reached up smacking both across the back of the head. "I told you to call me! Freaking morons!"

Pretty boy backed away from her and shook his hands, "Just…hang on a sec."

Grant laughed fully, "Wow you guys are good!"

The girl stared at him with a fierce gaze, "Excuse me? What are you talking about?"

"You two are asking questions like the buildings haunted, and then she comes in and is all ordering you two around when she's really just been worried—like those three siblings from the books." Grant explained and tried to rack his memory, "What are they called uh…"Supernatural"."

All three stared at him with dumbfounded expressions. Grant tried explaining some more, "Two guys, fake I.D.s with rock aliases, have a kick-ass sister, hunt down ghosts, demons, vampires. What are their names? Uh…Steve, Dirk and…Maddie? No uh…Sal, Dane and Mal?"

The tallest of the three glanced at his friends, "Sam…Dean and…Melody…?"

Grant smiled, "Yeah, that's it!"

"Wait, wait." The girl waved her hands in front of her face, "You're saying this is a book?"

"Books actually. It was a series." Grant grinned when he saw the details the girl had put into her costume. The necklace, the bracelet…everything. "Didn't sell a lot of copies though. Kind of had more of an underground-cult following."

He stood up, moving to the back of the store and all Melody could do was stare at her brothers with wide, fearful eyes. "What…the hell?" she mouthed the Sam who just looked confused. They followed the clerk to a pile of books where he searched for a minute before pulling out a copy, claiming that it was the first one.

Melody leaned over Dean's shoulder to get a look at the cover. It read, "Supernatural by Carver Edlund". There were three people on the cover. The closest to the spine of the book must have been Dean. The guy had short hair, wore a biker vest and jeans and carried what looked like a bag of salt on his shoulder. The second guy didn't even have a shirt on; instead his long flowing hair blew in the wind while he gripped a shotgun in his hands. Both men in the artwork were overly beefed up with muscle and had brooding expressions on the faces.

But the girl…that made Melody want to toss the book across the room. The girl was leaning seductively against the car—obviously the Impala. She had on a pair of daisy duke shorts, black biker boots and a deep red tube top with her breasts nearly escaping the confines of the fabric. Her hair was blowing away from her face in long, blonde waves as one of her hands snaked through the tresses and the other lightly held a knife against her exposed stomach.

Dean flipped the book over and read the back out loud, "Along a lonely California highway, a mysterious woman in white lures men to their deaths."

Sam grabbed the book from his hands, "Give me that." Melody stared at the floor…what the hell. She glanced at the book, felt a chill crawl across her skin and then turned her harsh gaze onto the clerk.

"We're gonna need all the copies of "Supernatural" you've got."

* * *

_Sorry there wasn't as much Cas in this chapter guys, buuut that's just how it happened. I'll try and get more of him and Melody for the next chapter, promise :) there will still be loads and loads of sexual tension though, because I love it and you all secretly love it even though you say you hate it. And...I'm mean, but I still love you all :D_

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	39. Chuck Shurley

**So before I let you read this chapter...can I just take a moment to fangirl some more over Season 9? Because OMG! Like ugh, Dean and then Sammy and then the feels and then Ezikiel and should I trust him and Cas! My baby! I just want to take his hand and help him be human! And I was in tears on two separate occasions and I was screaming through most of it and...ugh! And the new title card? Can you say freaking awesome!? And the promos? Ugh...this season will kill me...I know it will.**

**Ahem...alright, now that I'm done fangirling, I'll let you get back to actually reading the new chapter :) Enjoy it loves!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

"This is freakin insane."

Melody looked up from her book and watched Dean flip through his own copy. They had bought the entire "Supernatural" series and had been pouring through every page for hours. Sam had his laptop open and while his siblings sat next to each other on one of the motel beds, he combed through the internet for any information he could find on the books. Dean sighed flipping to another page,

"How's this guy know all this stuff?"

Sam shrugged from his seat, "You got me."

"Everything is in here." Dean huffed, "And I mean everything from the racist truck to—to me having sex."

Melody scrunched up her nose, "Ew seriously?"

"Yeah," the oldest answered throwing the book down onto the bed, "I'm full frontal in here." Melody had to laugh at his face. Then reminded herself to not read that particular book. She flipped through the pages, skimming along and froze. The line she'd just read made her eyes go wide…

_With her hair loose and falling across her shoulders, Melody grinned and shoved her latest "victim" onto her bed. With her brothers gone for a while, she'd figured she'd have some fun. She couldn't remember this one's name; all she knew was that he was hot and ready. And she certainly was. It'd been far too long since her last little vacation and she was planning on using it to her advantage. With a teasing smile, she slowly started unbuttoning her shirt, all the while watching the eager man on the bed drool and—_

Melody yelped and snapped the book shut. Unfortunately, that got the attention of her brothers. Dean and Sam watched her with confused stares to which she could only smile nervously at. "Um…don't…read this one."

"Why?" The brothers asked her and she let out a much too loud laugh.

"No reason guys just, you know it's not that good—compared to the other ones."

"Wait a minute," Sam saw her cheeks turn a soft pink as he slowly caught on to why she was acting so nervous. "Oh my god Mel it has you in there doing…"

"No!" Melody snapped clutching the book even closer to her chest. But her brothers already knew and Dean's face twisted in disgust,

"Ugh, seriously? You too? Mels what the hell?"

"Hey shut up!" Melody ordered standing up from the bed, "I can't help it if I like…that particular thing."

Dean just stared at her for a moment and then pointed at the book, "Keep that one for yourself."

Melody rolled her eyes but never let go of the text. Instead she huffed impatiently, setting aside the fact that there was a full on scene in a book that other people have read about her…having sex. And if Dean's had him full frontal…oh god. She quickly tried to move the attention of her and her older brother's sex scenes to more important topics.

"How come we haven't heard of these damn things before anyway?"

Sam, catching on to what his sister was trying to do returned his attention to his laptop. "They were pretty obscure. I mean almost zero circulation."

Dean stood up from his spot on the bed, and both he and Melody flanked Sam staring down at the laptop screen as the youngest continued, "Uh, started in '05. The publisher put out a couple dozen before going bankrupt. And uh, the last one—"No Rest for the Wicked"—ends with you going to Hell."

The oldest leaned down to get a closer look while Melody sat in one of the chairs. She buried her face in her hands while Dean sighed, "I reiterate. Freakin insane." He scrolled through the webpage, "Oh check it out. There's actually fans. Not many, but still. Did you read this?"

"Yep." Sam nodded but Melody grew curious.

"What'd they all say?" She asked now resting her chin in her hands. Dean flicked his eyes over the page and shrugged,

"Well for fans, they sure do complain a lot. Listen to this, Simpatico says—"The demon story line is trite, clichéd, and overall craptastic."—yeah, well screw you Simpatico. We lived it."

Sam chuckled, "Yeah it gets better. Keep reading."

"There's "Sam girls", "Dean girls", "Melody boys"—and…"Melody girls"..." he eyed his sister playfully. And all she could do was groan and roll her eyes. She reached over and took the laptop from her brother, not wanting him to have that much fun with this entire shit-storm.

Melody gave him a warning glare before looking back down at the screen, "Oh," she smirked, "look there's even slash fans."

Dean's brow creased, "What's a slash fan?" He watched his sister suppress a smile while the youngest sat back in his seat,

"As in, Sam-slash-Dean. Together." Melody watched the gears slowly work in her older brother's head. He stared at the table and then looked up at Sam,

"Like…_together_ together?"

Melody couldn't hold back any longer. She let out a loud, sputtering laugh at her brother's shocked face. Dean just stared at the table, "They do know we're brothers, right?"

"That doesn't seem to matter." Sam said, shooting his sister his best bitch face while Dean grumbled,

"Oh come on. That is just sick."

"Aw it's not that bad guys. Come on, it's just the wild imagination of…fangirls…" she trailed off having found the next couple sections of the page. Melody stared at the screen, grimaced, gagged, threw up her hands and shoved the laptop away from her. Confused, Sam and Dean both leaned over to see what had gotten her so worked up.

"Wow…they have sections for Sam-slash-Melody, Dean-slash-Melody and…"

Dean felt his eyes widen, "Sam-slash-Melody-slash-Dean?!" He sat back in his seat and shook his head, "Fangirls…"

Sam chuckled, "Oh hang on. There's an entire section dedicated to petition the author to kill off Melody."

"What?!" Melody cried grabbing the laptop again and staring at the screen. "Oh my—are you serious? Listen to this—"Melody does not belong in these stories. In fact she's not even an important character. All she does is nag her brothers, get in the way and ruin the entire storyline. It would be more satisfying to have her killed off than stick around and make us all suffer her horrible so called character"—wow, screw you."

She slammed the laptop shut, crossing her arms over her stomach and leaning back in her seat. Dean chewed his lip, glanced between his siblings and threw up his hands, "We got to find this Carver Edlund."

"Yeah, that might not be so easy." Sam said trying to give his sister his best, "it's okay" face. Instead she just huffed impatiently,

"Why the hell not?"

The youngest shrugged, "No tax records. No known address. Looks like "Carver Edlund" is a pen name."

Dean sighed, "Well, somebody's gotta know who he is."

* * *

"So you published the "Supernatural" books?"

Stacey Lynch grinned at the three journalists standing in her office. Melody Winchester watched the petite woman closely and stared at her large poster of the cover of the first "Supernatural" book. She inwardly grimaced. That damn girl in the photo looked nothing like her. And she would never wear _that_ shirt with _those_ shoes…eugh.

"Yep." Stacey's voice brought Melody out of her inner thoughts, "Yeah, gosh. These books…" She walked past the siblings towards her small book shelf where she had the entire collection of the "Supernatural" series. "You know, they never really got the attention they deserved. All anybody wants to read anymore is that romance crap. You know—"Doctor Sexy, M.D."—please…"

The Winchesters chuckled with her. "Well," Sam said glancing at his brother and sister, "we're hoping that our article can shine a light on an underappreciated series."

"Yeah," Stacey nodded, moving to stand in front of her guests, "yeah because you know, if we got a little bit of good press, then m-maybe we could start publishing again."

"No, no, no, no." Melody held out her hands while Dean quickly shook his head,

"God, no." That got a strange look from the publisher and the oldest hastily covered, "I mean, why-why would you want to do that?"

"Right." Melody nodded, "It's such a complete series what with…Dean going to Hell and all."

Stacey's eyes grew wide and she threw back her head, "Oh my God! That was one of my favorite ones, because Dean was so…strong…and sad and brave. And then Sam…I mean, the best parts are when they'd cry."

The Winchesters stared at her as she continued, voice breaking slightly, "You know like in—in "Heart"—when Sam had to kill Madison, the first woman since Jessica he really loved." Melody fought back a grimace and saw her brother's exchange a look. But Stacey wasn't finished,

"And in "Home" when Dean had to call John and ask him for help."

"Well…" Melody began slowly, "what about uh…their sister? You know…Melody?"

"Oh my gosh!" Stacey seemed to get even more emotional, "I love her. I know there's some fans who don't like her but she is exactly what they need you know? Like in "In My Time of Dying" the way she and Dean just…cried together after John died and in "All Hell Breaks Loose" the way she just…yelled at Dean after he brought Sam back or how she held onto Sam the night he died. Gosh…fiction needs more strong female characters like her."

"And how the boys can just…cry like that." Stacey sighed, "If only real men were so open and in—in touch with their feelings."

"Real men?" Dean asked, sounding slightly offended. Melody quickly coughed, covering her mouth to try and hide the smirk. Sure, she'd personally loved what Stacey had said about her from the books and was also slightly weirded out that a lot of people knew so much about her—and had read a _sex_ _scene_ with her in it—but Melody was having way too much fun with watching her brother's faces at the moment.

Stacey turned back to him and stuttered, "Uh—I mean, no offense. How often do you cry like that, hmm?"

"Well, right now I'm crying on the inside." Dean clipped and his sarcastic tone was not overlooked by anyone in the room. Stacey, going on the defensive, gave him a stern look,

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

"Lady this whole thing is funny." Dean chuckled and didn't miss the solid elbow his sister sent into his stomach. They needed to look like fans of this series not like they hated it. Stacey blinked at them for a moment, watching all of their faces closely.

She chewed her lip thoughtfully and then let out a sharp breath, "How do I now you three are legit?" The publisher moved around her desk, sitting down in her large red chair. The Winchesters moved further into the office while Dean shrugged,

"Oh trust me, we uh…we're legit."

"Well, I don't want any smart-ass article making fun of my boys—or my girl." Stacey was dead serious and Melody thought it was strange that the woman was calling Sam and Dean "her boys". Melody wanted to start up a full on argument. The two morons standing next to her were _her_ boys—not anyone else's.

Sam and Dean quickly shook their heads while Melody joined in after a moment. Sam held out his hand, "No we would never. We," he glanced at his siblings, "we are actually um…big fans."

Stacey eyed them carefully, "So you've read the books."

"Yep," Melody nodded hands buried into her jacket pockets, "cover to cover."

"What's the year and model of the car?" Stacey began her line of questions. Dean was the first to answer,

"1967 Chevy Impala."

"What's May second?"

"That's my—uh," Sam stammered, "Sam's birthday." He saw his siblings grin,

"January twenty-fourth is Dean's."

"October thirty-first is Melody's."

"Sam's score on the LSAT?"

That made the Winchesters pause. Dean and Melody looked over at their younger brother who squinted, racked his brain and said slowly, "One…seventy-four..?"

"Dean's favorite song?"

"It's a tie." The oldest answered with a grin, "Between Zep's "Ramble On" and "Traveling Riverside Blues"."

Stacey paused, "Melody's favorite food."

And as if they had all practiced their response hundreds of times over, the Winchesters each blinked, opened their mouths and grinned at exactly the same time before saying with pure, unwavering confidence,

"Cheese fries."

Melody thought for a moment how hungry she really was…and how much she really, really wanted some cheese fries.

"Okay." Stacey grinned, "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"What's Carver Edlund's real name?" Sam asked but that made the publisher stammer.

"Oh no. No. Sorry. I can't." Stacey shook her head, but Sam persisted.

"We just want to talk to him. You know get the "Supernatural" story in his own words."

Stacey nodded but again would not give in, "He's very private. Like Salinger."

"Well, like I said—we are um…" Sam reached up and started unbuttoning the top of his shirt, "big…big fans." He pulled back the collar of his shirt, revealing a tattoo on the left side of his chest just above his heart. Melody and Dean both sighed, biting back groans. They'd all gotten the tattoos a couple years back when they'd found the anit-possession symbol in one of Bobby's books. Dean rolled his eyes and pulled down his own shirt revealing the same tattoo in the same spot.

Stacey was obviously drooling by this point, and turned her eyes expectantly to Melody. Giving her youngest brother an "I hate you" face she turned her head, pulled back her hair and revealed the same anti-possession symbol tattooed behind and slightly below her right ear. She'd refused to get a tattoo on her chest so she'd gone with the smaller version on her neck.

"Awesome." Stacey giggled and pointed at them, "You all got them in the exact spots too. And, you know what?" She stood up from her chair, beginning to pull down her pants. She pulled them down to her knees and bent over slightly lifting up her shirt and sweater, "I got one too."

Melody sort of, half smiled and half grimaced and put a hand over her eyes. She heard Dean let out a low, "Whoa. You are a fan." And only uncovered her eyes when Stacey chuckled and the sound of a belt being pulled back together came to her ears.

Looking up, she saw Stacey grinning widely before she picked up a pad and pen, "Okay. His name's Chuck Shurley. And he's a genius so don't piss him off."

* * *

Chuck Shurley padded through his kitchen grabbing a slice of last night's pizza and popping open his fourth can of soda for the day. The printer worked and whirred as he moved into his little office, sitting down at his desk and picking up the latest pages of his books.

He picked up the stack of papers, idly picking at a piece of lint from his robe and set his reading glasses down on his nose. Chuck cleared his throat and began reading his first draft out loud to himself,

"Sam, Dean and Melody approached the run-down…" He grimaced, picked up a pencil and scribbled against the paper, "…approached the _ramshackle_ house with trepidation. Did they really want to learn the secrets that lay beyond that door? The siblings traded soulful looks. Then, with determination, Dean pushed the doorbell with forceful…determination."

Chuck groaned, "Eugh." Tossed the stack of papers onto his desk and pulled off his glasses. He rubbed his forehead, writing is—

_Ding Dong_

* * *

Melody stood in between her brothers, crossing her arms over her chest trying to fight off the chilly air. For a fleeting moment, she thought about Castiel. She wondered what he was doing, wondered what he was thinking about…and hoped that maybe he would be thinking about her. No…Melody squashed out her feelings and hopes. They were stupid and would not help right now. Who cares if she thought that the angel was strangely very attractive with his impossibly blue eyes, always messy hair and the ever-present five o'clock shadow. Castiel certainly didn't care, and she didn't care either. Her anticipating their next meeting, hoping that _maybe someday_ she can finally get him to really smile or laugh…she wanted to know what his laugh sounded like. She wanted to know what it felt like to kiss him…

_Dammit Melody! _She screamed at herself, scowl beginning to form and scrunch up her face. Right now she couldn't and _shouldn't_ be thinking about that. In fact she should never be thinking about that. _Ever_.

She returned her focus to the door she and her brothers were currently standing in front of waiting in reluctant patience for Chuck to answer. When the door finally opened, what she saw kind of surprised her. Chuck Shurley was about her height, had dark brown hair and scruff and grey eyes though they looked tired and worn. He had on a threadbare robe, wife beater and blue boxers. Adding the black socks, he looked like a regular homebody to her.

"You Chuck Shurley?" Dean asked and Sam continued the questions while Melody stared at him pointedly.

"The Chuck Shurley who wrote the "Supernatural" books?"

"Maybe. Why?" His voice was also a lot rougher sounding than Melody thought it would be. It sounded like the guy hardly ever talked. She put that aside and jerked a thumb towards her,

"My name's Melody." She moved her thumb to point at her brothers, "This is Dean, and Sam. The Melody, Dean and Sam you've been writing about."

Chuck nodded and gave them a half grin before turning and shutting his door on them. The Winchesters froze, a bit taken aback by Chuck's actions. Melody huffed, tossed her hands to her sides and reached out, pounding her finger into the doorbell. The door opened again slowly and Chuck sighed,

"Look uh…I appreciate your enthusiasm. Really, I do. It's uh…it's always nice to hear from the fans. But uh, for your own good, I strongly suggest you get a life."

He started to shut the door again but Dean shot out his hand stopping him. "See, here's the thing. You've been using it to write your books."

"Yeah, and in _way_ too great of detail Chuck." Melody pushed the door open all the way and saw Chuck stagger back into his home. For a moment, the writer was seriously impressed at her strength. But it was quickly wiped away when he saw all three people stomping into his house. Chuck moved back and away from them,

"Now, wait a minute. Now, this isn't funny."

"Damn straight, it's not funny." Dean grumbled hearing Sam shut the front door. He heard Melody scoff,

"This ain't a joke, pal."

Sam walked up behind his siblings, holding out his hand he said gently, "Look we just want to know how you're doing it."

Chuck stared at them like they were crazy, "I'm not doing anything."

"Are you a hunter?" Dean asked. Chuck's brow creased,

"No. I'm a writer."

"Then how do you know so much about demons?" Melody questioned stepping around her brothers and moving closer to Chuck. He saw her fierce gaze, felt genuine fear and took several shaking steps away from her before his knees knocked against his couch. Chuck fell over onto the couch but Melody ignored that and continued questioning him, feeling her temper get the better of her,

"Or tulpas? And changelings? How do you know?"

"Is this some kind of "Misery" thing?" Chuck questioned her now lying awkwardly on his back on the couch and staring up at them. "Ah it is, isn't it? It's a "Misery" thing!"

Melody rolled her eyes and slapped at his arm, "No Chuck it's not a "Misery" thing." She heard Dean sigh,

"Believe me, we are not fans."

"Well then what do you want?!" Chuck demanded an answer from them, shaking his hands nervously.

The youngest spoke up, explaining as gently as he could, "I'm Sam. And that's Dean and Melody."

Chuck sat up in his seat, "Sam, Dean and Melody are fictional characters. I made them up! They're not real!"

Melody grinned, though it was far from humorous, "Oh…not real you say?"

* * *

There was a low creak as metal worked against itself. The trunk of a black 1967 Chevy Impala came open slowly, revealing a vast collection of guns, flasks, holy water, salt and other various items. Chuck Shurley gaped at the contents,

"Are those real guns?"

"Yup." Dean answered bending down to point out everything, "And this is real rock salt and these are real fake I.D.s."

Chuck felt his mouth fall open, "Well I got to hand it to you guys you really are my number-one fans. That's…that's awesome…" he warily eyed what looked like a large lever action shotgun. He remembered writing about that very gun. It was a personal favorite of Melody's, though she never used it because she could never get the sights just right. And the gun was more of a collector's item to her than anything else. Yeah…these three had gone to great lengths. Nervously, Chuck stepped away from the car,

"So, I-I think I've got some posters in the house." He started to walk back towards his front door, but he felt a set of long, thin fingers grip his shoulder. Oh god, the girl even made a bracelet like the one from the book. What the hell was going on?

"Chuck, stop." Melody grumbled though she tried to be as gentle as possible. It was obvious that this writer was having a very, very hard time accepting this. He stuttered, nearly tripped over himself and turned around to face the siblings holding out his hands,

"Wait. Please, don't hurt me."

"How much do you know?" Sam asked him. Chuck stared up at him. The guy was tall—about as tall as he'd described the character Sam. Chuck moved his eyes over Melody, and then Dean…they were all so…perfect. Every detail he'd ever written or thought up was there.

"Do you know about the angels?" Melody posed her question, crossing her arms over her chest, "Or Lilith breaking the seals?"

"Wait a minute." Chuck shook his head, "How do you know about that?"

"The question is, how do you?" Dean grumbled but only got a deadpanned, serious answer from the writer,

"Cause I wrote it."

Sam felt his brow crease and stared down at Chuck, "You kept writing?"

"Yeah," the scruffy writer answered, "even after the publisher went bankrupt—but those books never came out." The three people standing in front of him could only shrug. Chuck laughed quietly, "Okay, wait a minute. This is some kind of joke, right? Did that," he jerked a thumb at his neighbor's house, "did Phil put you up to this?"

Melody rolled her eyes, letting out a short, impatient breath. She heard Dean do the same and saw him point at himself and then his siblings while saying, "Well, nice to meet you. I'm Dean Winchester, and this is my sister, Melody and my brother, Sam."

Chuck's face fell, "But…hold on…" his arms fell limply to his sides, "the last names were never in the books. I never told anybody about that. I never even wrote that down."

* * *

"I'm sitting in a laundromat, reading about myself sitting in a laundromat, reading about myself—my head hurts." Dean sighed and heard his sister chuckle quietly. After freaking Chuck out, he'd revealed that he'd written down all the events of that very morning. Chuck wrote himself into the books, meeting his own characters…at his own house. He must be some sort of psychic and must be laser-point focused on their lives. The question was how and why?

Melody popped another M&M into her mouth, sitting cross-legged on the small bench next to her little brother's clothes. She wrinkled her nose in slight disgust at the stale smell that came out of Sam's bag and ate another piece of her precious candy. She heard Sam sigh,

"There's got to be something this guy's not telling us." Sam tossed his gigantic darks into the machine. He was starting to have doubts about Chuck, about whether he was telling the whole truth.

Dean glanced back down at the papers in his hand and read, "_Sam tossed his gigantic darks into the machine. He was starting to have doubts about Chuck, about whether he was telling the whole truth._"

Melody rolled her eyes, of course he would. She wondered what a few M&M's would do to his clothes.

Dean chuckled and read again, "_Melody rolled her eyes, of course he would. She wondered what a few M&M's would do to his clothes._"

"Hey!" Melody griped.

" _"Hey!" Melody griped._" Dean quickly ducked, avoiding the red candy as it soared past his head,

"_Dean quickly ducked, avoiding the red candy as it soared past his head." _The oldest laughed pointing at the papers. The youngest slammed the door to his machine closed.

"Stop it," Sam said.

" _"Stop it," Sam said._" Dean grinned and saw Melody pinch back a smile of her own. Sam rolled his shoulders, turning around and beginning to ignore his brother who just kept going, "Guess what you do next. "_Sam turned his back on Dean and Melody. His face, brooding and pensive._" I mean, I don't know how he's doing it, but this guy is doing it."

Melody full on smiled, "Yeah, we can't see your face, but those are definitely your "brooding and pensive" shoulders."

She watched Sam sigh, keeping his back to them still. Dean looked back down at the paper, "You just thought that we're assholes." Melody froze, completely forgot about her snack and stared at her little brother.

"What? Sam…" He turned around to face them, thoughtful and slightly surprised. Sam shrugged,

"He's good."

* * *

Melody sat back in the soft leather armchair next to her little brother. She glanced down and idly picked at her ripped up black pants. They probably weren't the best choice to wear, especially during the cold weather. It didn't matter to her though. From how urgent Chuck had sounded on the phone she hadn't been that concerned with dressing appropriately for the weather. She was still wearing the same white tank top she'd fallen asleep in last night. But she'd put on layers; including a blue denim button up shirt, her leather jacket and of course her favorite cowboy boots.

Chuck came around into the living room, this time finally dressed in actual clothes. Melody grinned thinking back to Chuck's disheveled look when they'd first met him. It was pretty funny when she thought back to it.

The writer sighed, gripping a new stack of papers in his hands. He didn't speak though, he seemed almost nervous. Sam, slightly impatient and more than a little curious spoke up,

"So…you wrote another chapter?" Chuck breathed out sharply, shrugging his shoulders and pointing at the papers,

"This was all so much easier before you were real."

Dean sat forward slightly in his seat, "We can take it. Just spit it out."

Chuck sighed, "Well…you and Melody are really not going to like this."

"I didn't like Hell." Dean replied, just as—if not more—impatient than his brother. Melody rolled her eyes,

"Calm down Dean." She got the classic bitch face from her brother but ignored him and looked back at the writer, "Tell us what you've got Chuck. Take your time, it's alright."

Chuck watched her, realizing then just how nice she was being to him. Yesterday she looked like she was about to kill him but today? She was actually a bit more gentle and her temper wasn't controlling her every move. He thought to the other things he'd written, the stuff he was pretty sure Sam and Dean wouldn't want to read. He knew Melody would be interested in those though. He'd need to find a way to get those to her without her brothers knowing. Chuck sighed, looking down at his latest chapter and telling the Winchesters the news that…well, frightened him.

"It's Lilith." Chuck stated, seeing the fear slowly gather on all of their faces, "She's coming for Sam."

Dean sat straighter in his seat, "Coming to kill him?"

"When?"

"Why?" Sam and Melody spoke over each other, each standing from their spots. Again Chuck sighed,

"I don't know why but…she'll be coming tonight."

"Jesus…" Melody pinched the bridge of her nose. This could not be happening. Chuck moved around the small coffee table in his living room and sat down on his couch resting his elbows on his knees. Dean glanced at his brother and sister and saw that they were equally as freaked out.

"Wait she's just gonna show up? Here?" Dean asked and Chuck sat a bit more forward clearing his throat.

"Uh…" he stammered, a bit nervous. He was afraid to tell them what he'd written, but they needed to know. And…they kind of scared him. Probably Melody more than her brothers, especially if the whole glowing eyes and super strong thing about her was true. He did not want to be on the receiving end of those silver eyes…no sir.

Chuck coughed again before reading out loud, "_Lilith patted the bed seductively. Unable to deny his desire, Sam succumbed, and they sank into the throes of fiery demonic passion._"

All Melody could do was stare at him. Had she really heard him right? She glanced at Dean and heard Sam let out a short laugh. They both looked back at their brother.

"You think this is funny?" Dean asked, a bit annoyed by Sam's reaction. Sam looked a bit disbelieving,

"What? You don't? I mean, come on. "Fiery demonic passion"?"

Melody huffed before walking around the coffee table to stand next to Chuck who already had the papers held up. That made her pause but she ignored it and grabbed the chapter from his hands, re-reading the sentence. Yup, she had heard him right.

She felt her brow crease, "Seriously Chuck?" The writer could only shrug,

"It's just a first draft."

"Wait, wait, wait." Dean said shaking his hands in front of his face, "Lilith is a little girl."

Chuck blinked, thinking back to what Dean was referring to and shook his head, "No uh, this time she's a—"

"_Comely dental hygienist from Bloomington, Indiana._" Melody read out loud and rolled her eyes, "Great, now she's comely."

"Perfect." Dean sighed, taking on the same sarcastic tone as his sister. "So what happens after the…"fiery demonic" whatever?"

"I don't know." Chuck answered, "That hasn't come to me yet."

"Dean, look, there's nothing to worry about." Sam said holding out his hands. He heard his sister kind of, snort and laugh darkly. He looked at her, "Mel seriously I mean…Lilith and _me_? In bed?"

Melody shared a look with her brother and it was obvious that neither of them really believed that. They ignored what Sam had just said and the oldest looked to Chuck, "How does this whole psychic thing of yours work?"

Chuck glanced up from the table, "You mean my process?"

Dean rolled his eyes, "Yes, your process."

"Well, it usually starts with a headache. A really bad headache. Aspirin is useless, so…I drink. Until I fall asleep." Chuck let out a long, deep breath, holding his face with his hands. Melody sat against the arm of the couch as he continued, "The first time it happened, I thought it was just a crazy dream."

"The first time you dreamt about us?" Sam asked and got a quick nod from the writer. Chuck shook his hands in front of his face,

"It flowed. It just—it kept flowing. Still does. I-I can't stop it really."

Sam rolled his eyes and scoffed watching as his brother and sister stared at Chuck with wide eyes, "You can't seriously believe—"

"Humor us." Dean all but ordered standing up from his chair. Melody stood as well and felt the papers gently slip from her hands. She looked down, saw Chuck giving her a sheepish grin before she heard Dean speak again, "Look, why don't we just…"

He saw a flash of white and glanced down, finding Chuck handing up the chapter to him. Dean took it, folded the papers and then looked between his brother and sister. "Why don't we just take a look at these and see what's what."

Melody crossed her arms, "So…Chuck you—"

"Knew Dean was gonna ask for that. Yeah."

* * *

"Dean…seriously you're just being stupid. Come on, none of this was Chuck's f—"

"Mels. Don't." Melody huffed, rolled her eyes and bit back a sour remark. Besides, she'd gotten a little ounce of satisfaction after she'd ripped the pink flower band aids off her brother's face. They'd taken the pages from Chuck and read through them and Dean had decided that if they leave town, none of the events Chuck saw would happen. And of course as they'd tried to leave the river had overflowed the bridge that led out of town so they were basically stuck.

And Dean's next genius plan? Do everything opposite to what the pages said. Which meant no bacon cheeseburger for Dean, no fighting between the three siblings and certainly no research from Sam. Speaking of Sam, they'd left him at a motel with hex bags for protection and Dean had actually instructed his brother to watch porn. Melody had then been dragged away with her big brother. He'd parked the Impala, hoping to just walk around for a few hours but he'd been hit by a woman in a minivan. And…just like the pages had said, he'd woken up with pink flower band aids on his face, a tarp on the broken back window of the Impala and a very peeved sister.

Now Dean was equally as pissed though for different reasons. Melody was angry because her brother was being stupid and she didn't know how many times she could tell him that this wasn't Chuck's fault until she would have to resort to force—which she was considering very, very much at the moment. Dean was angry because…well he wasn't exactly angry. More scared because he did not want to go up against Lilith and he didn't want his brother to fall into "fiery demonic passion" with the bitch either.

He ignored his sister's sigh of annoyance and quickly popped open the lock to Chuck's front door. Before long, he was sitting in the writer's living room with Melody standing and silently brooding by the wall. Nearly a minute later, Chuck came around the corner, a six pack and other things in his arms. He silently walked towards them,

"Dean…Melody."

"I take it you knew we'd be here." Dean asked from his seat and saw the writer nod.

"You look terrible." Chuck commented, adjusting the beer cans in his arms.

Dean's jaw hitched, "Yeah, that's cause I just got hit by a minivan, Chuck."

"Oh…" Chuck seemed to grow smaller and smaller under Dean's growing temper. Dean leaned forward,

"That it?" The writer had nothing to say to and that only made Dean even more irritated, "Every damn thing you write about me and my sister comes true. And all you have to say is "oh"?!"

"Please don't yell at me." Chuck said setting down his beer and other grocery bags. Melody took a step towards her brother,

"Dean…" her tone had no edge to it, but there was a warning hidden in her voice. Dean however, completely ignored her and slowly stood up from his chair.

"Why do I get the feeling there's something that you're not telling us?"

"What wouldn't I be telling you?"

"How you know what you know for starters!"

Melody grabbed her brother's arm, "Dean calm down." He didn't and yanked his arm out of her hold before returning his fearsome gaze back to Chuck.

With a shaking voice, Chuck shook his head, feeling his throat close up, "I don't know how I know. I just do."

"That's not good enough." Dean growled and before anyone else in the room could blink, he grabbed Chuck by the collar of his jacket and shoved the writer against the wall. "How the hell are you doing this?!"

Melody groaned impatiently and grabbed Dean's shoulders trying to pull him away from the poor man. She opened her mouth, about to yell a pretty loud and vulgar profanity at her brother but froze when she heard a deep, commanding voice from behind them.

"Dean, let him go."

The Winchesters whipped around, finding Castiel standing in the middle of the room. Melody felt a tiny grin pull up the corner of her lip. She couldn't help herself. Every time she saw Cas, she smiled. It felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders, and like she could finally relax. She felt safe with him in front of her, safe and comfortable.

Castiel didn't look at her though; he kept his authoritative gaze on Dean, "This man is to be protected."

That made her pause. Melody looked back at Chuck then at her brother, then at Cas. "Why…?"

"He's a prophet of the Lord."

Melody felt her mouth fall open, "A…p-prophet? Like Luke?" She saw Dean look back at her, sort of in a disbelieving way. Melody shrugged, "What?"

"You…" Chuck let out a breath staring at the angel, "you're Castiel…aren't you?"

The angel nodded his head in greeting, "It's an honor to meet you Chuck. I…admire your work." Cas moved his eyes away from the people, finding an opened copy of a "Supernatural" book. He picked it up and began to thumb through it.

"Whoa, whoa…this guy? A prophet?" Dean asked skeptically, watching Chuck pull out a fresh bottle of whiskey. "Come on he's—he's…he's practically a _Penthouse_ forum writer!" He watched the writer grab a glass and sink down into a chair and shakily pour himself a glass, "Did you know about this?"

Chuck gaped up at him from his chair, "I uh…I might have dreamt about it."

"And you didn't tell us?!"

"It was too preposterous." Chuck lifted the glass to his lips, "Not to mention arrogant. I mean, writing yourself into the story is one thing, but as a prophet? That's like M. Night-level douchiness."

Melody sighed; Chuck was getting pretty worked up. She slapped Dean's arm, "Calm down already."

He shook his head, "No." Dean looked at Castiel, "This is the guy who decides our fate?"

"He isn't deciding anything." Castiel answered still flipping through the book in his hands, "He's a mouthpiece—a conduit for the inspired word."

"The word? The word of God? What like the new new testament?" Dean's brow scrunched up obviously confused.

"One day, these books—they'll be known as the Winchester Gospel."

Melody felt her heart drop, "You got to be kidding me."

"You got to be kidding me." Chuck said with her. She shot him a look that clearly said, "not now" before staring at Cas again. Chuck wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her everything. Everything he was seeing, everything he had seen…and everything he hoped to see.

Another reason why he wouldn't publish again is because he was so afraid what his readers would say when they saw the slow building relationship between the blonde hunter and the angel. Right now that "relationship" was nothing but a dream—especially for Melody. But…a part of him knew, without a doubt, that Castiel was feeling just about the same things as her. Only the angel didn't understand them. And the only person who would be able to help him? Well…the girl with a thousand secrets of course.

Castiel closed the book, setting it down he looked up at Melody and her brother, "I am not…kidding you."

Chuck felt his head start to pound, his body began to tremble. He got up on shaking legs, "If you'd all please excuse me one minute." He barreled past them, hearing Melody call out to him in concern but he ignored her and practically ran up the stairs to his bedroom, whiskey bottle and glass clutched in his arms.

Dean stared at the angel, "Him? Really?"

"You should've seen Luke." Castiel responded flatly, stating the fact as just a fact. But Melody strangely found some humor in it, and felt a tiny smile creep onto her face. Thankfully, she was standing behind Dean so he didn't see her. But Castiel did, and for a moment he didn't want to look away from her lit up features. He just wanted to watch her smile a little bit longer. But the moment was lost when Dean started pacing and asked,

"Why'd he get tapped?"

"I don't know how prophets are chosen." Castiel answered looking away from Melody, "The order comes from high up on the celestial chain of command."

"Well…how high?" Melody posed the question she knew Dean would ask. Crossing her arms over her chest she watched the angel closely, trying to figure out how to read him. But she just came up short…to her all she could see was a serious and blank expression.

"Very."

"Well, whatever." Dean grumbled shaking his hands through the air, "How do we get around this?"

"Around what?"

"The Sam-Lilith love connection. How do we stop it from happening?" Melody shot him a warning look. Castiel wasn't to blame for whatever the hell was happening here. Dean didn't need to get angry with him. Thankfully, Castiel didn't seem to notice or completely ignored Dean's temper.

The angel paused, searching for the correct words. He had no way of knowing how to exactly explain it. Even he didn't fully understand how a prophet…well prophesized. So, he said what he'd always known. What his brothers and sisters had always told him when he'd become curious.

"What the prophet has written can't be unwritten. As he has seen it, so it shall come to pass."

* * *

"Wait here. I'll go get him."

Dean put the Impala in park, shutting off the engine. He got out, and heard his sister getting out as well. He froze though, seeing the sign of the motel. The lights on the neon sign had all died except for three letters. Three letters that spelled out "Red Motel". Shit…that's the exact motel Chuck's pages said that Lilith would be at.

Melody didn't seem to notice but she did follow after her brother as he stomped around the parked car towards the room they'd left Sam in. "Dean stop. You know we can't leave."

"Why?" He whirled around, voice going into a deep, frustrated growl, "Because the bridge is flooded? I don't care if we have to swim across Mels, we're leaving."

"It's not the bridge Dean. We can't leave because we are meant to stay here."

"Don't give me that crap Mels. Don't you even begin to tell me that."

Melody rolled her eyes, "You're just afraid to fight. You're afraid Sam will go dark side—"

"Yes I am!" Dean shouted, "You know how he's been acting lately. You saw yourself how he took out Alastair."

"That doesn't mean he'll fall head-over-heels for the super bitch Dean!" Melody shouted back just as loudly as he had. She let out a sharp breath and threw up her arms, "Look, all I'm saying is that you need to have a little more faith in him. We both went through our own shit when you died alright? You can't blame him for acting like…well like he is. I know it's scary but, I don't know Dean, maybe you should trust him a little."

Dean didn't say anything because, dammit she was right. He hated that about his sister. She'd always been so perceptive, always had the easiest time reading him. Maybe it was due to the fact that they'd shared a room as kids, or that he was the one who used to sing her to sleep. He'd taught her everything he knew, and they'd been through everything together. Starting with the death of their mom all those years ago. She was barely two years old, and her first memory was hearing her mom's blood curdling scream. Dean honestly didn't know what to say to her. He didn't want to admit that she was right, at least not to her face. Melody would take way too much satisfaction out of that. So, instead he gave her his best and coldest stare before turning on his heel and going to get Sam.

Melody sighed, going back to the Impala and leaning against it. She probably shouldn't have said that to Dean. But he needed to hear it. Or at least, she hoped he did. Yes, she knew how Sam was acting. Yes it scared the crap out of her. But…they can't just run. Lilith would find them eventually and whatever was going to happen tonight…might not be something they could stop. Melody hated thinking that way but she was just trying to be realistic.

Not even a minute passed and Dean was already storming out of the motel room. Melody stood from her spot and quickly followed after her brother. "Dean? What happened?"

They both stopped by a vending machine. Dean sighed, "He…he's not leaving."

Melody sighed, "Well…then we fight her."

"You don't get it Mels. Lilith will kill him. They won't have a happy romance and skip away into the sunset. Lilith will kill Sam, and you're just gonna let that happen?"

That made her pause. She honestly hadn't thought about that. Melody blinked several times, "But…no, no she wouldn't kill him. She doesn't—why would she?"

Dean shook his head, "I don't know. But I know she's planning on killing our brother. And he's basically going to let it happen."

"No she can't kill Sam." Melody's chest rose up and down with her heavy breathing, "Dean I…I never even thought about that I…I'm sorry. How—how do we stop her?"

"I don't know." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I got nothing."

"We'll find a way Dean." Melody said, pure conviction pouring over her words.

"I know…" Dean nodded, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in for a side hug. They stayed like that for a while, thinking about the day's events, thinking about what may or may not happen.

"You got any change on you?" Dean's voice got her attention and she nodded, reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out a few quarters. She handed them to Dean and watched him try to get a soda out of the machine. He banged on it, kicked it…but nothing happened.

Dean stood up straight, staring at the stubborn machine. He looked at his sister who was waiting patiently and leaning against the side of the vending machine. He let out a sharp breath and pointed at her, "Don't you speak a word of this to anyone."

And before she could ask for clarity, he turned around and stared up at the sky. Dean sighed, "Well, I feel stupid for doing this. But…I am fresh out of options. So please…" he threw out his arms, "I need some help."

He paused, chewed his lip and was grateful that his sister hadn't said anything yet, "I'm praying okay? Come on. Please." For a moment nothing happened, and both Dean and Melody thought that nothing would happen.

"Prayer is a sign of faith."

The Winchesters looked back, finding Castiel standing a few feet away from them. The angel watched them both closely. Dean seemed surprised and Melody looked…relieved? There was a tiny smile on her face, one that would be hardly noticed if you weren't really looking at her. Not like Castiel was. Every time he saw the girl, he had to put everything about her into memory. He couldn't explain it, and lately he'd been coming to the conclusion that he shouldn't. Instead, he tried to remember the exact color of her hair. There was a prominent gold hue, but there were other colors as well. Butter, caramel…the color of sunshine. Her eyes were captivating. Soft greens and light browns mixed together. There was just a softness to her…a warm, welcoming air came off of her every time he was near.

"So does that mean you'll help me?" Dean asked, pulling Castiel's attention away from the girl.

"I'm not sure what I can do." He answered and saw Dean's shoulders visibly tense up.

"Drag Sam out of here—now. Before Lilith shows up."

"It's a prophecy." Castiel said, taking notice of how Melody moved closer to her brother. She was trying to comfort him because she knew that what the angel was saying was completely crushing her brother. "I can't interfere."

Dean felt his temper rise again, "You have tested me and thrown me every which way. And you have done the exact same thing to my brother and sister." He moved closer to the angel, closing the distance between them, "And I have never asked for anything. Not a damn thing."

Melody hoping that her brother wouldn't just outright hit the angel, moved to stand next to Dean and Castiel. It reminded her of how she would normally stand with her brother's when she was afraid that they would start fighting. Dean came to a stop and continued,

"But now I'm asking. I need your help. Please."

Castiel shook his head, "What you're asking it's…not within my power to do."

"Why? Cause it's "divine prophecy"?" Dean was now obviously frustrated.

"Yes." The angel answered but Dean threw up his hands, not wanting to hear any of it.

"So what—we're just supposed to sit around a-and wait for it to happen?"

"Cas…please there has to be something you can do." Melody spoke up, although she wasn't quite so angry like her brother. She seemed more scared than anything else. But…Castiel knew he couldn't do anything. He watched both siblings carefully, and Melody saw for the first time a real genuine emotion on his face. He was regretful. He looked hurt and scared and frustrated. For a moment…he looked almost human.

"I'm sorry." Castiel replied, pure mournful remorse in his eyes. That only seemed to make Dean all the more angry. His jaw clenched the muscles in his cheeks twitched and his mouth turned down into a deep scowl.

"Screw you." Dean grumbled, "You and your mission. Your God. If you don't help us now, then when the time comes and you need _us_…don't bother knocking."

He walked around the angel but Melody stayed in her spot. She stared up at Castiel, "There's always a way Cas…come on, there's _always_ something."

The angel stared at her, and Melody could see the gears working in his head. "Dean." He said, and when he didn't stop, Cas only called out, "Dean!"

"What?!" Dean cried, stopping in his spot and turning around. He saw Melody hadn't moved from her place next to the angel and was about to call out to her but Castiel spoke before he could.

"You must understand why I can't intercede." Castiel said the tiniest barely there smile on his lips. "Prophets are very special. They're protected."

There was an ever-present scowl on Dean's face, "I get that."

"If anything threatens a prophet," Castiel continued, speaking over and ignoring Dean's temper, "anything at all, an archangel will appear to destroy that threat. Archangels are fierce. They're absolute. They're Heaven's most terrifying weapon."

"And these archangels," Melody began to ask, feeling her eyebrow lift, "they're tied to prophets?"

"Yes." Castiel answered her. Dean slowly walked back toward him,

"So if a prophet was in the same room as a demon…"

"Then the most fearsome wrath of Heaven would rain down on that demon." Castiel explained slowly. Dean and Melody shared a quick glance while the angel finished, "Just so you understand…why I can't help."

He looked up and away from them, feigning innocence. Melody felt a real, genuine smile slip across her face. Dean grinned as well, "Thanks Cas."

"Good luck." The angel replied and Dean quickly turned on his heel heading for the Impala. Melody lingered however. She chuckled which got the attention of the angel. Castiel turned to face her, only to feel her thin, strong arms wrap around his neck. Melody laughed again, only this time it was a bit louder and more joyful.

"I told you." She grinned, pulled back from him and planted a soft, lingering kiss on his cheek, "Have I ever told you how awesome you can be sometimes?"

Castiel wasn't sure what to do at that point. So he went with what felt natural. He gently and very awkwardly tried to hug her back. But he failed, and only ended up with his hands placed against her shoulder blades.

"Is this…correct?" He felt her shoulders move as she laughed again. He could smell some sort of fruit coming off of her…it was sweet but had a bite to it. Just like her.

"Close enough featherhead. We'll work on it next time." Melody was smiling at him. _At him._ And he felt his entire self, his essence, his very existence, realize just how much he wanted to not let go of her. He wanted her to never stop smiling at him. He wanted to learn everything about her world, everything about _her_.

"Thank you Cas," she said through her smile and planted another warm kiss to his cheek. She pulled back and stepped away from him. Turning she started to jog to the Impala and glanced over her shoulder, "Stay close okay? I don't want to go too long without seeing you again."

He watched her get into the car, watched her exchange quick words with her brother, and watched the car drive off. Castiel slowly lifted a hand and touched his cheek; it was still warm where Melody had kissed him. She'd said that there was going to be a next time. That she wanted him to stay close. That meant she truly wanted to see him again. It meant that whatever he was feeling…must be real and tangible and she must be feeling something like that too. Because honestly? Castiel wanted to see her again…he _wanted_ there to be a next time.

* * *

_So...I don't know if I'm that satisfied with this chapter. I mean, I don't know...maybe it's cause I really, really want Cas and Mel to just...do it already. But we need more sexual tension. Like so much that you all and myself, might just explode. _

_BTW! I put up some pic's of Bill on my tumblr :D Now we can all have a face to the name right?_

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


	40. Lost and Found

**OH MY GOD! ALDKJAOEIHGA;EIHA;RUGHAEW;I! That's about all I have to say about this chapter...ahahahaha...I'm going to go now...I need to get myself under control...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural...I only own Melody...**

* * *

The water was bluer than she'd ever imagined. Melody sighed contentedly, leaning back on her elbows, digging her toes deeper and deeper into the sand. Her denim shorts were covered in the white sand, and there was probably sand all over her tank top. But she didn't mind. The ocean was calm and beautiful, the weather was perfectly warm…and she was all alone and at peace.

"Melody."

She whipped her head to the side, finding Castiel sitting just next to her. He was sitting sort of cross legged in the sand, his elbows resting on his knees and he stared out at the water. Melody sat up straight, the sea air whipping her hair away from her neck.

"Cas," she smiled, "either this is a really good dream or you just miss me." She was satisfied—more like overjoyed—when she saw the tiniest grin creep across his lips. He didn't say anything for a while; they just sat in a comfortable silence next to each other, their shoulders mere inches from touching, and watched the crisp, blue water. After a while, Melody found her thoughts straying to the past week. She glanced over at the angel,

"So…is there any way you can tell me if my brother Adam is alright? I mean is he…you know, in Heaven and with his mom?"

"I can't tell you that now." He answered moving his cobalt eyes from the ocean to her, "I am limited and…seem to be getting more and more detached from Heaven."

Melody turned so that her body was facing him, "What do you mean? You're not…dying are you?"

"No but…" he moved closer to her, "I already told your brother where to go. I just came here to…"

"To what?"

And he completely shocked her when he gently reached out and placed a warm hand on her bare shoulder. "I'm afraid something is going to happen. And if you can't find me, I need you to know—"

_"Mels!"_

* * *

"Mels!"

Dean violently shook his sister's shoulder and she groaned loudly before popping open her eyes and shooting up from her spot in the bed. Melody breathed loudly, heaving several gasps through her mouth as her eyes focused on everything and nothing.

"Hey!"

"What?!" Melody screeched, jumping back and falling halfway out of the motel bed. She panted, and then stared fiercely at her brother, "Dammit Dean! How many times have I told you to not do that?!"

Dean couldn't hold back the smirk or the soft chuckle as he bent down and started gathering their things. "Get your stuff, get dressed. We're leaving."

Melody heard the bathroom door open and saw her little brother come out, fully dressed with a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. She rubbed at her tired eyes and slowly got out of the bed. Grabbing her bag she stumbled into the bathroom and started changing. "So…why are we leaving?" she called through the door. After a moment, she heard her big brother respond.

"Not sure. But Cas sounded pretty urgent."

She pulled down a fresh shirt over her head and froze, "Cas…?" There was no response so Melody opened up the bathroom door, only to find her brother's half way out of the motel room. "Wait! Dean, what about Cas? What'd he say to you? Dean!"

* * *

Melody walked between her brothers, each carrying flashlights as the oldest of the Winchester siblings led them down a dark, dreary hallway in the back of an old warehouse. Melody sighed impatiently,

"I'm going to ask again—for the thousandth time—what did Cas say to you, Dean. What the hell was so important?"

"If I knew, would I be here?" Dean retorted and Melody bit back whatever sarcastic, bitchy comments flew through her mind. Instead, the Winchesters walked in eager silence and moved further and further into the warehouse.

Eventually they came upon a large back room. But everything about the room just screamed 'battlefield' to Melody. Crates were turned over, shelves ripped apart, machines hacked up, lights broken and hanging loosely from the ceiling.

"What the hell…?" Dean moved his flashlight over the entire room. Sam reached back, helping his sister step over some fallen debris,

"Looks like a bomb went off." He commented flinching back when a broken light bulb sparked at him. They moved further into the room, moving their flashlights over everything, trying to figure out what the hell had happened. A few more bulbs popped and threw sparks at them. Melody ducked underneath some more fallen debris.

"Guys…it looks like there was a fight here." She said staring up at the ceiling, even that had several scars on it. "A pretty big one too."

"Yeah, between who?" Sam questioned, but neither his brother nor his sister had an answer for that. They all paced a bit more, before Dean looked back and pointed his light upwards towards a large, bare wall.

"Check it out." He said leading them over to get a closer look. "Look familiar?"

"Yeah, it does." Melody glanced up, saw the large, blood red symbol painted onto the wall and shuddered. It was probably real blood too. She turned away from the wall, not that interested in it, and more interested in finding out why Cas had brought them here.

"Anna used something like that to wish the angels back to the cornfield." She heard Dean say, but she had almost completely tuned him out by then. She heard Sam say something about, "Cas fighting angels" but she knew that that was most likely the case. That just made her all the more afraid. Where was he then? Where was Cas? If he'd brought them here…then why wasn't he there to greet them?

She moved her light over towards the back of the room, hoping to find some more clues or even—

"Cas!" She screamed, dropping her flashlight on the ground and sprinting across the room. She'd found him! He was unconscious, lying flat on his back on some fallen over debris. Melody clumsily climbed over shelves and boxes and wires and came to a skidding halt by him.

Melody felt her heart pound in her chest, "Cas!" she shouted, shaking him, "Castiel! Come on, it's me—it's Melody!"

He gasped, popped open his eyes and jerked away from her, "What's—what's going on?" And immediately, as if everything in the room had taken a complete left turn…Melody knew something wasn't right. But she wasn't sure what. Castiel was shaking, he sounded like he was absolutely terrified. Melody reached out and grabbed his trembling arms,

"Take it easy—slow down."

"Oh…oh…" He pulled out of her hold and stood up quickly. Sam and Dean had come around by then and the youngest watched the angel carefully,

"Cas you okay?"

"Castiel? I'm not Castiel." Melody stood from her spot, staring at whoever was now standing in front of her. "It's me." He said voice audibly different. Hell even the way he stood and _breathed_ was different.

Melody couldn't talk. She felt fear. Pure, unwavering, unforgiving fear. She could feel it. She could feel the absence of the angel's presence. She felt wrong. Empty. This person standing in front of her was a complete stranger…he wasn't her angel. She wanted to run up and take this guy by the collar and just shake him and scream, "where is he?!" over and over until she got some answers.

She vaguely heard the guy say that his name was Jimmy, and felt her entire being shatter when Jimmy said that Cas was gone. No…no he couldn't…

Melody had to run; she had to just get out. But her feet were frozen to the floor, her whole body felt numb and cold. What was she supposed to do? Run away and scream at the stars, begging and hoping and pleading that he would answer? What was the point? They didn't share anything. Whatever she had dreamed and hoped for was only that. Foolish hopes and even more foolish dreams. He meant nothing to her. Castiel was only a passing thing in her overstuffed life. She didn't have time to wish for his touch, she didn't have the energy—or the courage—to ask him for it. So, as her brothers started escorting Jimmy Novak out of the building, she numbly followed behind. She picked up her discarded flashlight and lingered, hearing the three sets of footsteps echo down the hall. Melody twisted the flashlight in her hands, clicking the button off and on, popping open and clicking the battery case closed. Finally she stopped her movements, a cold, angry scowl wrinkling her smooth face. Melody looked up, saw the large bloody symbol on the wall and took in a deep breath. She let out a loud, ear-piercing roar; tossing the flashlight at the wall and watching it shatter into several pieces.

And she left the room without a second look back, her boots crunching over broken glass and other debris. And a numb, unwavering look passed across her face…and didn't leave even when she sat down in the back seat of the Impala and Jimmy Novak asked for food.

* * *

On her feet, staring down at her boots, leaning against the room divider with her arms crossed over her chest…all Melody could think was, "wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong" over and over. She chanced a quick look to her right and immediately regretted it. Jimmy Novak had two empty French fry containers, several discarded wrappers and a few more empty soda cups scattered across the table. He was stuffing another large bite of his final burger into his mouth, moaning and chewing hungrily. Maybe if Melody wasn't thinking about _him_ she'd have thought that this Jimmy guy was kind of cute. But not today. Today all she could think about was Castiel. How much she wanted him to be here, be with her _right_ _now_. She felt disgustingly empty. It was horrible, and she hated that she felt this way. It made her angry; it made her feel stupid, it made her feel _wrong_.

And by all the powers of this stupid world, she wanted—no _needed_ Castiel here right now. She wanted to hear his voice. That deep, rumbling, rough but incredibly smooth sound. And his eyes. Even looking at Jimmy's eyes she could tell that it wasn't Castiel. He _spoke_ wrong, he _sat_ wrong, he was just _wrong_. Melody didn't know if she should be angry at herself for needing Castiel so bad, angry at this guy Jimmy, or even angry at Castiel himself. What the hell was he going to tell her in her dream? He'd sounded like he was almost saying goodbye…

"Mind slowing down? You're gonna give me angina." Dean's voice brought Melody out of her spinning thoughts. She glanced up, caught Jimmy watching her and quickly averted her eyes again. She refused to look at him. It just made everything all the more difficult. Jimmy swallowed the large lump of food, shrugging off the images that fluttered through his memory when he looked at the girl and sipped at his drink.

"I'm hungry." He mumbled the cold liquid washing down his throat. The tallest of the three, Sam, leaned against the table,

"When's the last time you ate?"

"I don't know—months." He finished off his last burger with one final, large bite. Melody grimaced and stared hard at her boots. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong…

"What the hell happened back there? It looked like an angel battle royal." She heard Sam ask but didn't dare look up again. Jimmy sighed, replacing the soda cup onto the table and wiping his hands on a napkin.

"All I remember is there was a flash of light, and I, uh…" he faltered, his eyes catching the girl—Melody—watching him closely again. It was almost like she was accusing him of something. And again, those memories flickered across his vision. Her fierce hazel eyes, mouth set into a firm line. Then he would see her fighting back a grin, see her hair flow across her neck and shoulders and he knew everything Castiel had been thinking. Castiel wanted to touch her hair. Castiel wanted to watch her every move. But he wasn't Castiel, and the fact that he knew everything that her and the angel shared…almost made him feel like he was intruding on their private business. Also the fact that he knew she could easily break his arm and then whatever other bone she deemed worthy without blinking, made him very, very wary of her.

Jimmy faltered, caught off guard by the memories and Melody's intense stare. He cleared his throat and looked back down at the table before continuing, "…I-I woke up, and I was just—you know like…me again."

"So what—Cas just ditched out of your meat suit?" Dean asked, not missing how tense and stand offish his sister was being. She'd been different ever since they found Jimmy. Maybe she was just freaked out—hell he was pretty freaked out too.

"I really don't know." Jimmy answered, picking at a few stray fries left at the bottom of the bag. Sam sighed, trying to understand what exactly happened and what exactly was happening right now.

"You remember anything about being possessed?" Sam questioned, "Anything at all?"

Jimmy nodded, "Yeah, bits and pieces." He glanced at Melody again and only got another dark scowl out of her. He continued despite her angry look, intending on completely ignoring the girl for the rest of the night. "I mean, angel inside of you—it's kind of like being chained to a comet."

"Well, that doesn't sound like much fun." Dean commented and only got a half eye roll from Jimmy,

"Understatement." He said, taking another large gulp from his soda.

Sam decided to be the one to bring up what he knew his siblings were dying to know. Especially Melody from the looks of it. Of course Sam had noticed how quiet and subdued she'd become after they found Jimmy. He was pretty sure it had to deal with the lingering looks he'd caught his sister giving the angel, but he couldn't be too sure. He was however, about ninety-eight percent sure. The other two percent? That was just him trying to give his sister the benefit of the doubt. He didn't know everything about his older sister, but he did know when she liked someone. However, the way she was watching Castiel? That was completely different from any looks he'd ever seen her shoot random men.

Letting out a slow breath and shooting a quick glance to his sister to check up on her, Sam gently probed the man for more information, "Cas said he wanted to tell us something. Please tell me you remember that."

Jimmy shook his head, "Sorry." Melody bit back an annoyed groan. Great. Perfect! Not only did they have a missing angel friend, they had a completely clueless meat suit sitting in their motel room stuffing himself with cheap fast food. By all accounts, Melody was six-thousand percent done with this whole night.

Unable to stand another minute in the stupid motel room with her stupid brothers or this stupid situation, she huffed impatiently, threw up her hands and stormed out of the room, slamming the door extra hard and feeling an ounce of satisfaction when the light beside the door shook. She stomped her way through the parking lot and stood next to the Impala. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the side of the car and stared hard at the dark pavement.

Melody didn't know how long she just stood there and seethed, boiling in her own rage and frustrations. It was absolutely pathetic. The fact that she was missing a freaking angel, something that was miles—hell _light-years_ out of her league—just made her all the more angry at herself. She was a stupid girl. She was being the dumbest, most pathetic…

She bent down, gripping her head with her hands and scratching at her scalp trying to relieve the pounding headache that was pulsing against her skull. "Fuck…" she cursed lowly, straightening back up and taking a few pacing steps away from the Impala.

With a long, drawn out sigh, Melody looked up to the stars and threw out her arms, letting them fall against her legs with an audible slap. "Okay…you win dammit." Melody closed her eyes, chewed her lip and cursed again. Placing her hands on her hips she started to pace even more.

"I want answers alright? I need you—shit I don't even know who I'm talking to." She waved her hands in front of her face, "Whatever. Look I just need somebody up there to tell me what the hell happened to him. I don't know if you look down on this or…dammit Castiel is my friend. I want—_need_ to know that he's alright."

She stared at the dark sky, hoping that something would happen. "Please…please give me something."

Melody waited, and silently begged for an answer from whoever was listening. She must have waited for several minutes…feeling her legs go numb with how stiff she was standing. Melody sighed, dropped her head and gave a humorless laugh.

"Fine…I don't need your help anyway."

* * *

There was the distinct sound of a cork popping out of a bottle, the pinching, sweet aroma of bourbon filled the air and Melody breathed in the scent deeply. She poured out the dark liquid into her glass slowly, savoring the way the liquid reflected the artificial lights of the motel room. Setting aside the bottle, Melody pulled the now half-full glass towards her and lowered her nose over the glass. She took several deep breaths through her nose and sighed…finally feeling some ounce of peace.

Melody lifted the glass to her lips and closed her eyes, relishing in the sweet and bitter flavors that colored her mouth. She swallowed, loving every moment of the pure burn and then the bubbling warmth that boiled up from her stomach. She leaned back in her chair, twisting the glass in her fingers and watching the bourbon closely.

"Mind if I have some?"

She looked up, finding Jimmy standing awkwardly by the chair across from her. Melody averted her eyes but tried to be as nice as possible. She grunted and nodded, sliding the bottle over to him as he sat down. Earlier, Jimmy had revealed to them that he had a wife and daughter, and from what he'd said, it seemed like the whole "vessel" job was almost thrust upon him. Melody honestly felt a little bad for the guy. He wanted to leave; he wanted to see his family. But they couldn't let him leave. Demons were probably after him, and they would not risk the guy getting hurt or even risking his family getting hurt.

Melody carefully moved her eyes up to his face, "Do you want a glass or…"

Jimmy shrugged, "No I'm fine. I always preferred to drink out of the bottle anyway." He tipped the bottle up and took a careful sip, paused and then took another large gulp. Jimmy winced when he felt the burn in the back of his throat but savored it. He set the bottle down in front of him and sighed,

"It's been a very long time since I last had a good drink."

"Well, I always get the best." Melody half grinned, giving a small toast towards him with her glass. They fell into a tense and awkward silence. Unsure of what exactly to say, Melody went for honesty figuring he would rather her tell him the truth then dance around it.

"Look," she sighed, "I'm sorry we're…basically keeping you against your will. I know you want to see your family, but believe me when I say that this is for the best."

Jimmy watched her down the rest of her drink. She didn't even show a sign of discomfort from the alcohol that crawled down her throat. But he needed to get away. These people were crazy. There was no need for demons or whoever else to come after him. He was nothing, just another human. He certainly couldn't fight his way past these people, even Melody looked pretty lethal despite her size. What he needed to do was to get her to trust him. And…the alcohol would certainly help dull her senses.

Melody seemed pretty eager to drink anyway, having finished up the rest of her glass in several deep gulps. Jimmy held up the bottle, silently asking if she'd like more and she nodded sliding the small glass towards him. Jimmy reached out with the bottle and tilted it, letting it fill a little more than halfway. She pulled the glass back with a small "thanks" and held it against her chest.

"I…understand what you and your brothers are doing." He began, twisting the bottle and picking at the label. "And, I guess I should thank you for helping me."

"Well, we aim to please." Melody sounded a bit cynical and swallowed her drink. He was a bit surprised at how eagerly she was drinking. The girl must obviously be under some kind of stress.

Jimmy sighed, "And for what it's worth—"

"Did Castiel ever think about me?" She suddenly asked, staring at her glass. Melody chanced looking up and found Jimmy's surprised face staring at her. Grunting, Melody tipped her glass up again and downed her drink. After swallowing she let out a short breath, "Sorry, that was…yeah, you don't have to answer that. I'll just…"

She leaned forward and grabbed the bottle from his hands, her fingers just grazing his skin. Jimmy was immediately hit with more flashes of memories. He saw Melody yelling at him, saw her fierce stare, and saw her eyes go from bright hazel to luminescent silver. And…he saw the side of her face, watched her watch the ground…like he—no, Castiel—was watching _her_.

Jimmy didn't want to tell her. For starters it made him uncomfortable. He felt like he was almost intruding on something private. And, he didn't know exactly what to say. For all he knew Castiel had just been curious about her. But not in that way. Jimmy didn't want to make any assumptions.

Melody tipped the bottle into her glass again, this time nearly missing. She grunted, only filled the glass barely halfway and gulped down whatever she'd poured out for herself. "You know, I thought he actually gave a shit." She said sitting back in her chair, clutching her now empty glass to her chest.

"Who, Castiel?" Jimmy questioned, reaching for the bottle and taking another sip of his own. He watched her nod, saw several pieces of her gold hair fall across her shoulders and saw more memories of watching that same gold hair flutter in the wind. Jimmy shook his head and took another sip.

"Yeah, Castiel." Melody sneered with slight disgust at the name, "Some friend he turned out to be. He isn't even my friend. Just some, angel who is passing through. I don't need him." She paused, stared hard at the wall and grimaced. And before Jimmy could even begin to think of what he should say back, Melody leaned up and threw her glass at the wall, watching it burst and shatter. She leaned back and grinned, and then stood up on wobbly legs.

It was then that her brother's decided to come inside, having been discussing something out in the parking lot. They also had several bags of food. The oldest, Dean, eyed his sister carefully and saw the glass shards on the floor and then the half empty bottle on the table. He sighed, "Mels, why were you drinking?"

She scowled at him, "Cause I'm old enough and you're an asshole." Melody took a shaking step towards him, poked him hard in the chest and then pushed past him. Sam, the youngest, stepped in front of her and held out a gentle hand towards her.

"Melody where are you going?" Sam asked, calm but his concern for her was obvious. She just slapped his hands away, rather sloppily and reached into Dean's jacket pocket. When her hand came back out, they all heard car keys jingling and she waved them in front of Sam's face.

"Goin to sleep in the fucking car genius. I don't want to be around any of you—" her chest jumped up, and she clutched it fighting against the hiccup, "…you…assholes." Melody pushed past Sam, muttering the word "asshole" again before slamming the motel room door behind her.

Jimmy looked up from the table, "Is she always like that when she gets…"

Dean sighed, "Depends on her mood, and her choice of drink."

"Yeah, but her favorite word when she's like that is "asshole" so…get used to hearing it for a while." Sam chewed his lip, looking out the window to find his sister stumbling into the backseat of the Impala. He and Dean slowly sat down at the table and ate their late night meal. And all Sam could think about was the tiny silver flask in his pocket. He looked at Dean, saw that his brother looked pretty tired and guessed his brother was about thirty minutes from falling asleep. Perfect, when Dean was out and now that Melody was going to be passed out in the Impala, he was sure he'd find time to get a quick drink. His fingers itched to take hold of the flask, but he stopped himself. He would be fine and then ten times better when he got a drink…he just needed it…_now_.

* * *

"Castiel!"

Echoes, darkness…nothing.

"Castiel!"

Cold, empty, no answers.

"Cas!"

Melody fell to her knees, fighting what felt like tears but they weren't tears. They were sobs. Dry sobs. Looking up, she found nothing. There wasn't anything surrounding her. She could barely make out the shape of her hands on the cold floor.

She breathed in deeply, shaking violently and feeling nothing but empty. "Cas…please…"

_"Melody!"_

Falling over, she curled into a tight ball, "Come back to me…"

* * *

"Melody! Hey, come one wake up!" Sam shook his sister again, this time her eyes popped open and she sat up straight, sucking in air quickly. And almost immediately, she fell back down onto the seat, clutching at her head and groaning.

"I…hate…you…" Melody grumbled, squeezing her eyes shut. Sam sighed impatiently, tossed a half empty water bottle at her and sat back in his seat. Melody angrily grabbed the water and drank from it eagerly. She felt the car jumble and bump as Dean pulled it out of the parking lot…what?!

Melody shot up, ignoring the knives currying into her skull and stared at the dark road. "Where the hell are we going? Where the hell is Jimmy? What the hell is going on?!"

"Would you calm down?" Sam asked, obviously losing patience with her. Melody just sneered at him,

"I'll calm down when one of you morons tells me what the fuck is going on!"

Dean threw back his head for a moment, rolled his eyes and glanced at his sister in the rearview mirror, "Jesus Mels, calm down and we'll tell you."

"No," Melody said through gritted teeth, "I'll calm down when _you_ tell _me_!"

"Would you just…" Dean's voice raised for a half second then he stopped himself, thinking it better to not fight with his sister who was suffering from an obvious hangover. Dean let out a long breath, "Jimmy left. _Someone_ wasn't watching him closely and he ran off." He eyed Sam with annoyance and that just made Melody all the more…whatever the hell she was feeling.

She threw herself backwards, landing with a low thump on the leather seat and gripped her head, "What the hell Sam…"

He tried to explain himself, but both of his siblings would not hear him. Melody finished off her water, feeling an ounce better but still not good enough. She moved over and leaned her head against the right window, closing her eyes and trying to fight off the headache. This was not their night, not at all…

* * *

Melody got out of the Impala, having been thoroughly scared to death thanks to the sudden appearance of Anna in the backseat several hours earlier, she needed and was extremely grateful to finally be at their destination. Anna had told her and her brothers that Castiel didn't just leave on his own. That he was forced out, that he was pulled to Heaven. And that made Melody even more anxious. It certainly was not a good sign.

"How the hell are we going to tell Jimmy this anyway?" Melody posed the question, following her brothers as they all walked up the street to the Novak home. Dean was about to answer but froze when he felt his sister grab him arm tightly.

Melody turned her head up towards the house, breathing in deeply through her nose. "Shit…demons!" She shouted, breaking out into a full sprint for the home. Sam and Dean were right behind her, the oldest whipping out the demon knife.

They didn't even have to kick in the front door, it was already thrown open. There were two demons. One had a hold of a little girl, obviously Jimmy's daughter, and the other was on top of Jimmy pounding his face with her fists.

Dean was the first to react, running up to the demon holding Jimmy's daughter and slicing the guy's neck. Melody ran past them and grabbed the demon off of Jimmy, throwing her away with a loud grunt. She pulled Jimmy up, practically tossing him into his wife and daughter.

"Go!" she screamed, raising her fists and feeling her powers consume her as the demon turned and sneered at her. The Novak family hesitated, about to see a real fight between the blonde and the demon.

Melody readied herself, preparing to fight off the demon for as long as possible. She was about to start but froze when the demon was suddenly glued to the floor, grimacing in pain. Melody looked up, finding Sam in the room, his arm outstretched, that look of pure concentration on his face. He was using his own powers again.

Dean and his sister, thinking Sam could handle the demon for now, quickly ran to the Novak family. "Go, go!" Dean shouted, gently pushing and ushering them out of the house.

"Give me the knife." Melody held out a hand towards her brother. He hesitated which only irritated Melody who shook her open hand at him, "The _knife_ Dean!"

Sam grimaced, hearing his sister shout something from the back of the house. He tried to keep his hold on the demon, tried to fight against the headache. But it was too much. The pain was too much, the demon was too much…

He felt his hold on the demon diminish and puff away, panting and groaning at his exhaustion. The demon grinned wickedly at him, "Aw, can't get it up can you, Sam?"

"Nope. But I certainly can." Sam and the demon both looked back finding Melody standing just a few steps away, knife gripped in her hand tightly. She blinked, her eyes went from normal to silver in a flash and the demon was visibly shaken. Melody took a running leap towards her only to stop when the demon threw back her head and screamed, black smoke pouring out of her mouth.

The body fell limp to the floor but the Winchesters couldn't linger. "Come on." Dean said grabbing both his brother and sister's arms and pulling them out of the house. They ran outside, finding the Novak's standing by the Impala.

After Jimmy's wife came back, wrapping coats around her daughter and her husband, all six people piled into the car. Dean peeled out down the street, rolling down his window half way. He felt Melody squirm in between him and Sam but ignored her and kept driving.

Soon, they were far enough away from the house and the Winchesters weren't as on edge as before. Melody leaned against Sam, pointing her nose out towards the half open window. Jimmy's wife was wearing the strongest perfume. It was giving Melody a horrible headache. After a while, Melody glanced back to check on the family, and found all three fast asleep.

After nearly a half hour of driving, Dean deemed it safe for them to pull over. The Winchesters got out, waking up Jimmy and moving towards the back of the car. "You were right." Jimmy said, watching his wife and daughter. He looked back at the Winchesters and saw their grave, disappointed faces.

"Sorry we were." Melody shrugged, stuffing her hands deeper into her pockets, relieved to be out in the fresh air and not suffering the strong scent of Jimmy's wife—Amelia's perfume.

Jimmy shook his head, "But I'm telling you—I don't know anything."

Dean chewed his lip, "I don't think they're inclined to believe you."

"And even if they did," Sam added, "you're a vessel. They're still gonna want to know what makes you tick."

"Which means vivisection…if they're feeling generous." Dean grimaced and then let out a grunt when Melody elbowed him hard in the stomach. She shot both her brothers a warning look, telling them to shut the hell up and looked back at Jimmy.

She sighed, "Look, I hate to say it again, but you're putting your family in danger. You _have_ to come with us."

Jimmy paused, glanced at his wife and daughter and sighed, "How long?" He asked the siblings, "And don't give me that "cross that bridge when we get to it" crap."

"Don't you get it?" Sam seemed a bit annoyed and on edge when he addressed the issue a bit…bluntly with Jimmy. "Forever. The demons will never stop. You can never be with your family. So, you either get as far away from them as possible, or you put a bullet in your head and that's how you keep your family safe, but there's no getting out and there's no going home."

"Well, don't sugarcoat it Sam." Dean commented and saw his sister cross her arms,

"Seriously…"

The youngest barely glanced at them, "I'm just telling him the truth. Someone _has_ to."

* * *

Melody leaned forward, keeping as quiet as possible, trying not to disturb the sleeping man next to her. Jimmy had said a tearful goodbye to his family and was now fast asleep in the backseat. Melody honestly felt horrible for him. He obviously cared deeply for his wife and daughter and leaving them was a challenge for him.

Dean glanced at his sister and saw her nod towards their younger brother. He sighed; he knew that this was going to happen. "What the hell happened back there?" Dean asked, keeping his voice low so he wouldn't wake up Jimmy.

Sam glanced over at his siblings, "What?"

Melody sighed, "Sam you practically fainted trying to exorcise that demon." She watched him, nothing but pure concern on her face for her brother. Sam didn't seem to reciprocate what she was trying to convey. He looked back out the front window,

"Okay, I didn't faint. I got a little dizzy."

"Well, you can call it whatever you want." Dean said, "Point it, you used to be strong enough to kill Alastair. Now you can't even kill stunt demon number three?"

"What do you guys want me to say about it?" Sam asked, sounding like he was beginning to get defensive. Melody decided to let Dean do most of the talking; she wasn't exactly in the mood to start up accusations.

Dean felt his jaw twitch, "For starters, what's going on with your mojo? I mean, it's yo-yo'ing all over the place. Now, I'm not trying to pick a fight here, okay? I just—you…you're scaring me man. Both of us."

Sam got quiet for a short few seconds. He stared at the dark road, watched it pass by and the rain patter against the car. "I'm scaring _myself_." He felt his sister's long fingers take hold of his shoulder, squeezing gently. Sam was about to reach for her hand, he was about to confess everything to them. Only he froze when he felt his cell phone vibrate and heard it's shrill ringtone echo out of his pocket.

He quickly pulled the phone out, pressing it to his ear, "Hello?"

Melody sat back and watched him, feeling…something. Some warning bells were starting to go off in her head. Sam paused, asked who it was and then handed the phone back, waking up Jimmy. "It's your wife." The youngest explained and Jimmy quickly took the phone.

"Amelia." Jimmy greeted his wife, only to have his face fall. "Oh my god…"

* * *

"Get off me!" Melody grumbled, trying to fight off the tight, iron grip of the demon holding her arms. After Jimmy had told them the horrible news, that his wife was possessed by a demon and that that demon had called him, telling him to come alone or it would kill his wife and daughter, the Winchesters hadn't hesitated. Now they were following Dean's brilliant plan…

Sam fought against the hold one of the demons had on him, "Nice plan, Dean."

"Yeah well," Dean shrugged, "nobody bats a thousand."

Amelia, or the demon possessing her sauntered up to them, hands in her jacket pockets and grinned, "Got the knife?" One of her minions held up the demon killing knife, grinning wickedly. "And you know what's funny?" Amelia asked them.

"You wearing a soccer mom?" Dean asked sarcastically, but Amelia just ignored him.

"Is I was actually bummed to get this detail. Picking up an empty vessel. Sort of like a milk run." Melody looked past her shoulder and saw Jimmy standing several feet behind her and his daughter tied up to a chair, passed out. "Now look who landed in my lap."

Melody grimaced, struggled more against the hold on her, "You all smell like ass—I hope you know that."

Sam ignored his sister and tried reasoning with the demon standing in front of them, "You got us, okay? Let these people go."

"Oh Sam. It's easy to act chivalrous when your wonder girl powers aren't working, huh?" She sneered at Sam then moved her cold gaze onto Melody, "And you. Don't even bother with your parlor trick. You'll be dead before you blink—bitch."

Melody could only grimace at the demon, "Well, you still smell like ass."

The demon just smiled at her, "Now for the punch line…everybody dies." She raised a pistol, pointing it directly at Sam. Melody fought harder against the hold on her. Amelia just smirked, turned and pulled the trigger, sending the bullet directly into Jimmy Novak's stomach.

Amelia turned back and nodded at one of her minions, "Waste little orphan Annie." The demon holding Melody let her go, but Melody was quickly grabbed by the demon who'd been holding back Dean. As the large, hulking demon moved towards the passed out little girl in the chair, past a slowly dying Jimmy, Melody silently begged for something—someone to help.

As if in answer, when the large demon picked up a fallen rusting pipe and began to swing it towards the little girl's face, she woke up, stopped the pipe from hitting her face and shoved her hand onto his forehead. There was a sizzling sound, and the demon screaming and screeched in pure agony.

The Winchesters sprang into action. Melody released the hold on her powers and whipped around grabbing the demon holding her and her brother and punching him across the face. The demon snarled, threw out his own fist aiming to hurt her but Melody quickly ducked. Only instead of the demon hitting her, it hit her brother. Dean fell back and landed on the floor, nearly falling into unconsciousness.

"Dean!" Melody cried running for him, only to be stopped by the demon grabbing her by the arms, pulling her into him. Melody grimaced, threw her head back feeling it connect with the demon's nose. He only growled at her and threw her down onto the floor. Melody flipped herself over, trying to get back up but the demon landed on top of her, taking hold of her throat and squeezing.

Melody grabbed and clawed at his hands, trying to pry him off, trying to get back some air. She felt her throat close up, felt her head go light and her vision started to fade. As she began to give up, began to just let it all end…there was a bright flash of light and the hold on her throat was immediately gone.

Gasping, Melody looked up, only to find the demon throwing his head back in pain, a tiny hand pressed against his forehead. "Mels!" Dean's hands grabbed at her, pulling her up. Melody looked up at him, coughing and wheezing. She glanced around, saw two limp bodies on the floor, and Jimmy leaned up against a support beam.

Melody looked down, and saw Jimmy's daughter staring up at her. The little girl's face was blank, cold, and Melody knew without hesitation who she was staring at. "Cas…" Melody breathed out, feeling a sense of _right_ for the first time in two days.

He simply looked away from her and over to where Sam was fighting off a demon. But…no he wasn't fighting the demon at all. Melody felt her grip tighten on her older brother. Sam was…sucking the blood from the demon's throat. Even the demon looked scared, as she whimpered underneath Sam.

Sam leaned up, looked back to find his brother, sister and Castiel watching him. Sam had blood all over his mouth and chin, and was breathing heavily. He grimaced, turned back to the demon underneath him and stabbed the demon in the chest. When he stood up, still breathing heavily, Melody instantly grabbed her big brother's hand feeling absolute fear when she saw how different Sam looked.

Dean must have felt it too. He tucked his sister behind him and nearly jumped backwards when Sam raised his hand towards them. They jumped back, only to find Amelia freeze in place. She groaned, grabbed at her stomach and coughed loudly, black smoke pooling out of her mouth.

Melody and her brother ran to Amelia, catching her as she nearly fell over now free of the demon's hold on her mind and body. While Dean was shooting Sam strange looks, Melody was watching the exchange between Castiel and Jimmy.

The Winchesters and Amelia moved further into the room. Castiel was kneeling down in front of a shaking and dying Jimmy. The man was begging the angel to let go of his daughter, to take him instead of his daughter.

"I want to make you understand." Castiel spoke through Claire's tiny voice but the power behind the voice made the girl seem so much older than she truly was. "You won't die…or age. If this last year was painful for you, picture a hundred—a thousand more like it."

Jimmy was trembling but reached out and took hold of his daughter's arm, "Doesn't matter. You take me. Just take _me_."

He whimpered, obviously fighting against the pain in his stomach. Castiel paused, then reached out and took hold of Jimmy's face with Claire's tiny hands, "As you wish."

There was a loud, high-pitched ring and then Jimmy's face lit up, light pouring from his mouth and eyes. When the light faded out, when little Claire nearly fell over panting on the floor…Melody could see Castiel again—for real this time. Even Jimmy's eyes seemed to change colors. They went from a cool blue…to deep cobalt.

Castiel stood up, walking past the Winchesters. Amelia went for her daughter, holding the girl close to her. The angel paused, watched Amelia and her daughter for a moment and turned to walk away.

Melody looked after him, "Cas…wait."

He stopped, turned back and stared at her. Cold, unwavering…brooding. Dean chose his moment to ask, "What were you gonna tell me?"

Castiel stared hard at him, "I learned my lesson while I was away, Dean." His voice was deep, rough and smooth. "I serve Heaven. I don't serve man." He moved his cold gaze to Melody, "And I certainly don't serve _you_."

He turned and walked out of the room. Melody felt her entire being go from elated to broken. No…no he didn't mean that. She looked back up, saw him turn and walk out of the room and broke out into a quick sprint after him leaving her brothers to deal with Amelia and Claire.

"Cas!" Melody called out to him. He was already halfway down the hall. He didn't turn, just kept walking down the dark hallway. Melody ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder, "Dammit Castiel wai—"

She let out a sharp yelp and felt him whip around and grab her arms, shoving her back against the wall. Melody grunted, feeling something dig into her back and opened her eyes, only to find an angry, rage filled blue gaze staring down at her.

"I told you. I do not serve you." Castiel growled out, squeezing her arms hard before letting them go. He turned to leave, only to be stopped by Melody quickly grabbing at the lapels of his coat. She pulled him back to look at her, breathing going ragged.

"I don't want you to serve me Cas." Melody felt her heart pound in her chest, beating rapidly and quickening in pace. She reached out a shaking hand and touched his face, gaining a bit more confidence when he didn't move and rested her palm against his warm cheek. Melody felt her mouth fall open, and she breathed deeply through it, licking her lips nervously.

"Then what do you want Melody?" Castiel asked her, voice going deeper, eyes getting even darker. Melody hesitated, not sure exactly what she wanted…but…as she stared at his face, felt his warm skin against her and felt his body pressing into her…she knew.

"I…I want…" Melody felt her entire body tremble, squeezed his jacket even tighter and decided that she either do it now or be eternally regretful. So…she let out a shaking breath and gently, ever so gently, leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, just ghosting them over each other.

Castiel flinched back slightly, surprised and not exactly sure what to do. But when Melody pushed her lips onto his a bit harder…something took him over. He let out a groan, felt like he was releasing a hold on something he'd been denying himself since he first laid eyes on the girl and pushed even harder against her. He reached back, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her body closer to his own, reveling in the warmth and soaring need for her. Melody groaned against him, molding her mouth against his, wrapping her arms around his neck and just taking in everything about him. She'd needed this. She needed him. Melody kissed him hard; she kissed him with every ounce of passion she'd been fighting against the entire time she'd known him. Her fingers started to curl into his hair, she started to press her hips even harder against him. And just when she thought he wouldn't stop, just when she thought he would never let go…he pulled away from her.

The angel took a few steps away from her, panting, shaking…obviously confused. Melody stared at him, realizing her mistake then. "Shit…Cas I'm sorry. I'm so—"

He was gone before she could explain herself. Melody threw her head back against the wall, thumping it against the concrete, ignoring the pain that shot through her and instead scolded herself. "Stupid, stupid…stupid!"

* * *

_AH! Whyyyyyy...that kiss though...that kiiissss..._

_Review, fav and follow! Thanks for reading!_


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